Prune and Propagate Elderberry - Bob Gordon Elderberry, Sambucus canadensis

Prune and propagate the Bob Gordon Elderberry. We show you THREE ways to propagate Elderberry! FREE plants are HEPPY™ plants. Prune and propagate elderberry bush for elderflower, to make elderberry syrup, elderflower liqueur and more! Give ‘em away or sell plants and cuttings!
Elderberry need NO water once established, show NO disease and NO pests, adaptable to virtually any conditions (soil, water, light), and can be pruned as needed (or, not pruned). Elderberries are about the easiest edible shrub to grow.
Chapter descriptions
00:00
00:33 intro to the Bob Gordon Elderberry
02:01 BEFORE pruning, assess your plant & goals
04:07 prune Elderberry, from the bottom up
05:11 Elderberry is soft & brittle wood (heads up ;)
07:17 prune Elderberry to optimize sunlight
07:57 SUCKERS: Bob Gordon Elderberry vs Passion Fruit Vine
08:20 ONE-year wood vs TWO-year wood
11:13 All done pruning!
11:34 suckers
12:07 intro to PROPAGATING Elderberry
12:34 propagation method 1: simple layering
13:55 propagation method 2: pot suckers
16:10 propagation method 3: cover canes in woodchips
19:56 caution about leaving propagating Elderberry
Elderberry health benefits:
heppy.org/elderberry#Elderberry_health_benefits
Types of Elderberry:
American Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)
Blue Elderberry (Sambucus mexicana)
European Elderberry (Sambucus nigra)
Red Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa)
More infor is here: heppy.org/elderberry#Types_of_Elderberry
KZbin Playlist on Elderberry:
• Elderberry
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see more about HEPPY™ heppy.org/
a comprehensive guide to Elderberry heppy.org/elderberry
see our collection of edible plants grown organically in our food forest: heppy.org/plants
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in 2017 I started planting on a 2 acre abandoned property. We’re located only 10 miles south of the US Capitol but are surrounded by several hundred acres of forest and very few homes. Our urban garden design, landscape architecture and permaculture techniques incorporate fruiting trees, fruiting shrubs, edible ground cover, edible flowers, and herbs and medicinal plants that will provide food for generations. It’s a long and slow ‘haul’ as we adapt, learn new things, and are (usually ;) enjoying the process.
Check us out!: heppy.org

[@heppylifestyle]

Elderberry syrup, Elderflower, Elderflower liqueur, Elderberry vine and other food products come from this FAST growing SUPER hardy plant! Prune & propagate to sell or give-away the plant! Our established plants need no water, have HUGE heads of flowers, and are pest / disease free! Elderberry is about the easiest plant to grow!

[@tracycouture3955]

Thank you so much for this information, new subscriber Blessings from B.C 🇨🇦

[@heppylifestyle]

i LOVE BC; I spent time on Vancouver Island; thanks you for subscribing!!! totally appreciate it. be good Tracy!

[@royboggs3849]

Extremely helpful for me (new grower)! TU, man. Roy (in KY, 68 yrs)

[@heppylifestyle]

glad the vid helped Roy! thanks for stopping by. KY is a beautiful state -- enjoy Spring & keep plantin'!

[@Appophust]

You won't see pests, but you will see ants. They're symbiotic and should be allowed to remain on the plant. Elderberry plants have something called "extrafloral nectaries" that draw the ants so that they will protect and clean the branches, buds, etc.

[@heppylifestyle]

nice. thanks Thomas, and thanks for stopping by. please subscribe, and have a great day.

[@TruthAndLight4995]

Thanks! Good info. I bought a plant at Costco last year and had NO IDEA that it would explode with all the sucker canes!! I will prune in the winter for sure. I’m kinda sorry now about where I placed it in my garden.

[@heppylifestyle]

@TruthAndLight4995 I'm REALLY sorry for placing the Bob Gordon in the middle of my garden. It belongs on the periphery 😕🥺🐞

[@iamthewelcher]

I just love how you cuss man! Just being Real with the people! Lol

[@heppylifestyle]

;) 🤓

[@melissaharland5609]

Love da circle, I do the same with any plant, it works great.

[@heppylifestyle]

thank you Melissa! sounds like you're a seasoned & inquisitive gardener -- glad to have ya!

[@r.d.9650]

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing this video!🙂

[@heppylifestyle]

well thank you for the feedback RD! much appreciated! 🌻

[@TimberwolfOutdoorLife]

Thanks for the great video. I do have plans to try my hand at Elderberry, perhaps in a year or so.

[@heppylifestyle]

well thank you! if your around washington dc, pick-up a Johns & Bob Gordon from us (free, of course)! they explode in growth in organic soil; sunny location for max production but Elderberry tolerate about any condition. that's my $0.02. good luck with the Elder's Timberwolf & thanks for stopping by!

[@melissaharland5609]

Thank you for sharing ✌️

[@heppylifestyle]

🤓✌

[@kristenkrashatsuenodevida7699]

Nice!

[@heppylifestyle]

double hearts! i'm honored Kristen!!! i'll catch up to ya at Sueño de Vida. gracias amiga! 🌴

[@tasmanianherbals9706]

fantastic! so helpful What kind of wood do you use for the woodchips?

[@heppylifestyle]

thank you Tasmanian Herbals! and great question. short answer: i use whatever the local tree trimming folk bring me. for Elderberry propagation, it seems like any NOT fresh woodchips will do. i do distinguish pine/conifer woodchips from non-pine for acid loving plants (blueberry, green tea plant). pine/conifer woodchips are used for acid loving plants. thanks for stopping by & plz subscribe and be good!, pete moss

[@patrickschmidt4639]

so wholesome

[@heppylifestyle]

thank you Patrick. thanks for stopping by!

[@ExLibMachina]

Hi. Thanks for the video. I have this elderberry as well. Could you do a vid about how you collect the berries, and if you boil, and for how long? My other question is about wood chips. Do you make your own, and if so, can you make a chipper recommendation? Thank you!

[@heppylifestyle]

hi Beth. thanks for stopping by! we'll film us processing Elderberries ... eventually :/ but in the meantime, i'd point you to the Midwest Elderberry Cooperative's page for recipes: www.midwest-elderberry.coop/recipes/chef-klaus-mitterhausers.html chipper? + in practice: we get woodchips for free; i track-down tree trimmers in our community and ask 'em to dump woodchips on our property. that works great in our community. + this may help: getchipdrop.com/ + MTD 10HP chipper off Craigslist (model 24A - 464G129). it was a risky move on my part (private sale on CL) BUT what a monster, and it worked great. in summary, i think these devices are about "HP" (horsepower). they advertise number of 'hammers" but it's the HP that pulverizes branches. i don't bother chipping thick limbs/branches (2.5"+) -- it's the light branches that pile up. take care Beth,

[@joefisher7792]

Watch out for those inch worms

[@heppylifestyle]

🤓 will do Joe!

[@NBPostman]

What do you do with wood, can you put them in the compost pile or will they just root. Can you run them through a chipper and use as wood chip mulch?

[@heppylifestyle]

hi John -- thanks for stopping by. yes, they won't grow if run through a chipper, and they don't grow when i place cuttings on the top of a compost pile over loose weedy debris. one compost pile is loose & airy & far off soil so plant debris dries & dies. cuttings on/around anything close to soil WILL likely elicit rooting. as you know, time-of-yr is a factor - super cold or super hot weather causes the wood to die quickly. please subscribe and have fun getting ready for spring!, pete moss

[@NBPostman]

I want to clean up an area, cutting down some wild elderberries..If I cut back elderberries now when the snow is on the ground they will cause the wood to die

[@heppylifestyle]

​@@NBPostman Hi john - i have no personal experience do that; however, my intuition is that prolonged cold weather will kill Elderberry cuttings. it's a soft wood. good luck and let me know how it goes.

[@ck-4203]

Does pruning work out if done this late? My understanding is that the plant should be dormant.

[@heppylifestyle]

Yes, pruning when dormant is optimal -- you nailed it. Elderberry is such a vigorous plant that I can be pruned at other times. Right now (may - June) it's flowering. I have to do a MAJOR prune on the Bob Gordon and I'll slam it as soon as it's done fruiting. She'll do just fine. But yes, it's best to prune when dormant 🐞

[@kristingoettlicher3503]

Which do you like better, elderberry or aronia?

[@heppylifestyle]

great question! Aronia in just about EVERY way ;) Aronia is far better for human health; fruit is easier to pick & process; and some Elderberry sucker like crazy. BUT, in terms of seeing a giant head of flowers, the Elderberry wins ;) Aronia is maybe the most nutritional fruiting plant I found. heppy.org/chokeberry#Aronia_berry_Benefits thx for stopping by and plz sub!

[@melissaharland5609]

Um laughing cuz the same happened to me. 1st time trying to grow one in containers n one grew so long I tried to braid the 3 branches and one BROKE I said the same word n twisted the 2 left can't wait to prune purposely.

[@heppylifestyle]

;). sorry to hear about the broken branch but as you see, she's an Elderberry ;) you'll the fine! Thanks for stopping by Melissa, pete moss

[@kittencollective]

what time of year was this filmed? Spring?

[@kittencollective]

question answered in the video, month of March.

[@heppylifestyle]

i believe it's early April; maybe April 7. i'm pretty good at selecting the actual/real 'film date' so i know when i did what i did :/. thanks for stopping by kittencollective!

[@johnfitbyfaithnet]

​@heppylifestyle so could I prune a one year old plant right now in Texas?

[@susankingblalock]

Do you sell your cuttings?

[@heppylifestyle]

Hi Susan, i'm not selling as a practice but certainly could. i'd sell rooted Elderberry -- it would literally be dug out of the soil, with the above-ground portion trimmed. shipped by US postal service. contact me by [e-mail], let me know how much you want or how much you'd like to spend, and i'll get it done. Bob Gordon or Johns or both? hope all that made sense. thanks, and thank you for stopping by. plz subscribe!, pete moss

[@Damselfly54315]

Wow, potty mouth,you can make TONS of cuttings from ALL you cut off

[@heppylifestyle]

sorry; a little a potty ;). about cuttings: BE careful cause the cuttings will grow and and grow. i finally potted them but am also still digging up roots from those cuttings. anywho, thanks for stopping by!