Description

Elder | Sambucus nigra

Common names include elderberry, black elder and European elder.

For a single row of hedging, you will need 4 plants per metre; for a double row of hedging, you will need 6 plants per metre.

The elder is a popular small tree for gardeners and a useful and attractive addition to a native hedging mix. Widespread across the UK, it can be found growing in woodland scrub, wasteland and along hedgerows.

It’s creamy-coloured flowers appear from late May and can be used to make wine, cordials or tea.  The purple-black berries ripen from late-summer to autumn and can be used to make preserves and wine.  A wide variety of insects benefit from the nectar in the flowers, and the berries are eaten by birds and small mammals.  Moth caterpillars, such as the swallowtail and dot moth, feed on the foliage.

Elder foliage was once used to keep flies away and branches were often hung around dairies.

Our elder whips are grown in the UK from UK origin seed.