Elderberry Bushes

Elderberry Plants for Sale at Nature Hills Nursery

You've probably heard about the healing powers of Elderberry and Elderflower for colds and flu. Scientists are continuing to study their efficacy against pathogenic bacteria as well as influenza viruses.

But did you know that Elderberries grow on an attractive, lush plant that can be kept as either a bushy shrub or a small tree? You'll find a fine variety of Elderberry plants for sale right here at Nature Hills Nursery, an online plant shop that's been helping customers grow happy since 2001.

Officially known as Sambucus, Elderberry plants make a terrific addition to your landscape in so many ways. Sambucus canadensis is the North American native, while Sambucus nigra is the European native. Add Elderberry bushes for both their superfruit and their highly decorative attributes in the landscape! These edible gardening shrubs are ideal double-duty landscape ornamentals!

Beautiful clusters of flowers, called umbels, are held in lavish profusion in early summer. These creamy, foamy-looking flat-topped lacy blooms have their fair share of medicinal properties and are incredibly pollinator-friendly nectar and pollen-rich resources all on their own! With wide landing pads of the native American Elderberries like York and Adams support local butterflies and beneficial pollinator populations.

With a pollination partner, the clusters of star-shaped florets develop into heavy clusters of drooping, jewel-toned nearly black to deep purple berries.

The tropical-looking foliage is long and comprised of many smaller leaflets that form and fill out fast! In July through September, the berries ripen and are highly desirable to songbirds and wildlife! And beneficial for humans too! 

Health Benefits of Sambucus

Elderberries are now widely touted for their medicinal value. Great Granny was right: the dark fruit can be decocted into tinctures and syrups as a healthy tonic! The bluish-black fruits are exceptionally rich in healthy antioxidants, polyphenols, and vitamin C.

Harvest, prep, and cook your own remedies for a pick-me-up that makes you feel proud! Never eat raw Elderberries, as they must first be prepped and cooked for safety. Remove all of the stems, then cook the raw berries down into a juice, and add sweetener for syrup or use for medicinal purposes. The juice can even be made into delicious wine and liqueur!

Hint: try freezing the stems, berries and all, and they'll fall right off the tiny branches for you!

Elderflowers however can be used fresh or dried into tea, made into syrups and preserves, and added to medicinal preparations. St‑Germain is a French liqueur made with fresh Elderflowers, the florets can be baked into cakes and pastries, and mixed into ice cream and sorbets!

Please be careful if you choose to prepare your harvest, as there are steps that must be followed to remove the stems from the berries. Read all about preparing cold and flu remedies in our Garden Blog. "Elderberries: What's the Deal with America's New Favorite Plant?"

• Ensure you are harvesting fruit or flowers from a clean, pesticide-free source
• Do not take more than you need - leave some for the bees and birds
• De-stem and cook your Elderberry fruit before consuming

How Large Do Elderberry Shrubs Get?

Study the Plant Highlights on each Elderberry Bush product page to see the mature height and overall plant size. However, you'll be pleased to know that it's easy to keep versatile Elderberry plants smaller with pruning no matter which variety you choose!

Plus, you can grow large Elderberries as a multi-trunk or multi-stemmed tree form! They weep beautifully and create an umbrella-like canopy once they are drooping heavy with fruit!

For small space gardens, try dwarf Elderberry cultivars.

• Lemony Lace® Elderberry stays tightly compact, and it features golden foliage.
• Columnar Black Tower™ Elderberry makes a dramatic showpiece in a tight area. You'll love the dark foliage, pink flowers and dark berries, too.
• The native Ranch Elderberry grows 5-6 feet in height and width while suckering to create polite colonies!

Go grand with these larger selections.

• The American Elderberry is a native selection that can reach up to 12 feet in height!
• The ornamental Black Beauty® and pollination partner Black Lace® have gorgeous leaves as dark purple as their fruit!
• Golden Elderberry Bushes have red fruit and gold-green foliage and 8-12 foot heights!

Buy Elderberry for a Double-Duty Landscape!

Elderberry plants are also grown for their ornamental value in the landscape. Elderberry varieties have colorful leaves and unique shapes to beautify the landscape.

So go ahead and enjoy the range of options, including fabulous golden tones, pink berries, purple fine-cut foliage and other attributes that modern breeders are introducing. You'll find the latest Elderberry bushes for sale right here in our online nursery.

Modern life can be a bit trying sometimes, can't it? Most Elderberry bushes grow quickly. Call them large shrubs or small trees, and think of them as free-form, sculptural plants to shape as you like.

• Let their branches grow out and use them as an Elderberry hedge along your fence line. You'll enjoy a showy privacy screen without a long wait.
• Prune up the lower branches to show off their multi-stemmed form as a small tree.
• They make a pretty anchor custom-fitted into a courtyard planting bed.
• Hide an inconvenient view quickly and easily with an Elderberry hedgerow! The birds and bees will thank you!

However you choose to keep Elderberry bushes, you'll be doing Mother Earth a big favor with your choice.

Plant More Than One Elderberry for Pollination

There are approximately 20 to 30 species of Elderberries in the genus Sambucus. You'll need to include at least two Elderberries from the same species to cross-pollinate so they start producing fruit.

A Sambucus canadensis will not cross-pollinate a Sambucus nigra. However, cultivars of the same species will cross-pollinate each other.

Reasons to Grow Elderberries in a Food Forest

Elderberry and deer are a match made in heaven, so be sure to protect yours in areas with heavy deer pressure. Spray repellent on all new plants in deer country, and reapply according to the label. Try to avoid spraying anything during flowering and once the fruit forms if you plant on harvesting either.

Songbirds enjoy Elderberry bushes, too. Include Elderberries in your landscape to provide shelter and fruit for birds in your neighborhood.

What you can't harvest, the birds will take. In fact, you'll be racing the birds for your fair share, so keep your eyes on the prize as the berries turn purple.

Elderberry Bush Planting Tips

In the right plant growing conditions, Elderberries are wonderfully easy-care. Baby them with consistent water, and they ought to do fine - even for beginning gardeners.

The best possible planting site for most Elderberry plants is:

• Plant in rich, loamy soil that is well-drained
• Many cultivars prefer full sun, with at least six hours of direct light a day
• Some Elderberry varieties do fine in partial shade

As always, you'll get more fruit from full sun locations. Study your landscape for sun conditions, as partial shade is no more than four hours of sunlight a day. Check the preferred growing conditions for each Elderberry variety on the specific product pages.

Caring for Elderberry bushes starts with proper site selection. Study the Plant Highlights for the mature height and width and give them the room they need.

Tough Elderberry bushes can tolerate different soil conditions, but they do not tolerate drought conditions for long. Keep them happy and healthy with a moderate amount of water on a regular basis. Elderberry plants do well in many soil types. However, they also prefer loamy, well-drained soil that doesn't stay soggy for long.

Add a 3-inch layer of mulch to help keep weeds at bay under your plants. The shallow roots don't like competition.

How to Trim Elderberry Bushes for a Fruitful Harvest

A mature Elderberry shrub can produce roughly 6 pounds of fruit on average. Some years will be bigger and better than ever!

1. Start pruning Elderberry bushes when they are three to four years old. Cut them back if the plant gets to be too large for the location.
2. Trim your Elderberry shrubs by removing dead canes and controlling size in early spring.
3. After fruiting, rejuvenate older shrubs with renewal pruning to maintain a good fruit set. This allows you to prune without losing out on flowers or fruit! Remove canes that are older than 3-5 years to encourage new growth and more vigorous canes. Simply cut the oldest, thickest stems out at ground level.

Grow an Elderberry Orchard!

You'll love how adaptable the venerated Elderberry bush or shrub is all across most of the United States. Both cold-hardy and heat tolerant, these superfruit deciduous shrubs are grown throughout the country in most USDA plant hardiness zones to rave reviews!

Once considered an old-fashioned remedy, Elderberry now is having an "it moment" once again!

We offer high-quality Elderberry plants for sale and they sell out very quickly. Count on Nature Hills Nursery to create the landscape of your dreams.

Nature Hills Nursery is here to meet your landscape needs. You'll never have to wonder where to buy Elderberry plants again. Place your order right here today!