Take care
Raw berries, leaves, and stems are toxic — cook ripe berries before eating.
Elderberry
Sambucus nigra
Plant out 4 weeks before your last spring frost. Space plants 72 in (183 cm) apart.
Photo: Andrikkos, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
When to plant
Timed from your frost dates, so it holds wherever you garden. Give yours and every step below becomes a date.
Optimal Spring Transplant (Container)
From a plantRecommended from a plant- Plant out4 weeks before your last spring frost
- First harvestthe first crop about 2 years after planting
Optimal Fall Planting (Container)
From a plant- Plant out6 weeks before your first fall frost
- First harvestthe first crop about 2 years after planting
Optimal Spring Planting (Bare-Root)
RootRecommended root- Plant out4 weeks before your last spring frost
- First harvestthe first crop about 2 years after planting
Growing elderberry
- Spacing in the row
- 72 in (183 cm)
- Between rows
- 120 in (305 cm)
- Planting depth
- At nursery depth or 1-2 inches deeper
- Sun
- Full Sun
- Years to first crop
- 2
- Mature height
- 6-12 ft
- Hardy to
- USDA zone 4
- Life cycle
- Perennial
Feeding
- How often
- Once a year, in early spring. Skip the planting year; after that, apply a balanced fertilizer once growth starts, cutting it back if the bush is already very vigorous.
Your elderberry, planned to the day.
Canopy turns these timings into dates from your own frost data, places every plant at its spacing on your garden map, and tracks it all the way to harvest.