The standard cultivated elderberries need heavy pruning to renew the bushes.
I got tired of mine and mowed them off with a flail mower, thinking to kill
them. Nope. They came back better than ever. I have two of each and
alternate bushes - every three or four years, mow one off. The next year,
do the other one. They do great that way.
-Lon Rombough
>
> Bob and Winnie wrote:
>
>> About 5 or 6 years ago I purchased and planted about 50 each of blue and
>> black elderberries. I planted them in rows alternately and am now ready
>> to report that black elderberries are entirely unsuitable for my climate
>> and soil.
>> The blue elders are now bearing fruit and are from 4 to 7 ft tall, very
>> nice. The blacks are all suffering from water and heat stress, are a
>> third the size or smaller, and are bearing black spots on the leaves
>> like some kind of fungus or blight. In addition, the black elders are
>> quite vulnerable to late spring frosts that are common in my area; the
>> blues are not.
>> To sum it up, blue elderberries are great, black elderberries are lousy
>> and will soon be pulled up.
>>
>> Bob, Z4, Utah