Did someone mention ELDERBERRIES!!!!!

[docanddeb]

They will come back in the spring and you can take cuttings then. Is this one of those projects that they cut back every 10 yrs or so? That is what they do around here. If so... don't worry... they'll be back!!

Debbie

 

[pwrose]

From what the guy mowing told me is that they cut that ditch bank every year. That would explain why the bushes were no more than chest high and thick.
I like the idea of digging up the old plants, it will just be a matter of getting them without anyone asking why I am digging up the ditch bank. LOL. It is a state maintained gravel road, and albeit gravel it has plenty of traffic on it.

I will let ya know how it turns out I might wait until it gets a little colder to dig them up so that they are more dormant and not trying to grow in the process. I would hate to shock them into death. If I get a few weeds along with them they can be weeded through later, snicker.

 

[docanddeb]

I would be faster and easier to get cuttings next summer. If they just cut them down each year... you'll be fine. You just make sure you get the berries before they disappear!

Debbie

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Debbie, how does that make sense? Have you ever dug up an elderberry plant? They are very easy to transplant and take off like rockets if they already have roots.

What PW needs to get is one of those fluorescent orange vests and some little orange flags to put around in a circle around his work area so he looks authentic, and maybe a hardhat Crackedcork

I would be faster and easier to get cuttings next summer. If they just cut them down each year... you'll be fine. You just make sure you get the berries before they disappear!

Debbie

 

[pwrose]

LOL, on the hunt for the orange vest and white hat. I have the cones and do not care to tell where they came from.

 

[docanddeb]

I know that if I tried to dig up a wild elderberry plant... it would be impossible. There would be a tangle beyond belief. There are always many grown together and the roots spread like quack grass. They are growing along with other brush and would have to fight that off too. I would find it much easier to take a cutting and stick it in dirt.
In fact... after you finish fermenting... just plant some of the seeds. I have elderberry bushes sprouting in my flower beds from the compost. I dug those up and gave them away.

Debbie

 

[Julie]

That maybe how they grow in Wisconsin but I'm not sure about everywhere else. Please keep in mine that across the United States we have different climates, different dirt and different areas that items grow in. That is why we have zones.

So when claiming how something grows in your area, please keep in mind that your zone may very well be different than someone else's and the plant will grow much different in another zone.

It is always best to state what area you are talking about and this is how it grows here. This prevents some confusion.

 

[BobF]

If you don't care about the erosion problems you'll create in the ditch, dig them up.

 

[docanddeb]

Yep,

That's why I said... "around here"... that is how they grow.

Debbie

 

[BobF]

Deb -

Are you in Berlin, or New Berlin?

I lived in the Madison area for a few years. I know New Berlin but never heard of Berlin

 

[docanddeb]

Berlin... near Oshkosh.

Debbie

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Bob, I have never met PWR but from his postings on here that are helpful to all and the positive attitude displayed I would doubt that he would be so irrisponsible to dig one big hole and clear out the bank but would instead sample up and down the canal and knock off the dirt to get bare rooted plants. MO probably has a source for native elderberry plants to restore wildlife habitat, that might be an easier way to get them, they are usually cheap that way. Our conservation program doesnt supplly elderberries unfortunately or we could have used some fallow fields to plant elderberries in. CC

If you don't care about the erosion problems you'll create in the ditch, dig them up.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Those dibble bars I posted on here are great for planting cutting, rooted cuttings, tomatoe plants and peppers, bare root trees and bushes and elderberries, it gets down deep easily unless you hit a big rock, wiggle it a little back and forth to open up a nice slit in the ground, poke your plant and roots down in the slit, slide the dibble bar into the ground right behind the first hole and push forwared a little and you instantly clear out the air pocket and create a great hole for watering your newly planted friend. CC

 

[BobF]

Bob, I have never met PWR but from his postings on here that are helpful to all and the positive attitude displayed I would doubt that he would be so irrisponsible to dig one big hole and clear out the bank but would instead sample up and down the canal and knock off the dirt to get bare rooted plants. MO probably has a source for native elderberry plants to restore wildlife habitat, that might be an easier way to get them, they are usually cheap that way. Our conservation program doesnt supplly elderberries unfortunately or we could have used some fallow fields to plant elderberries in. CC

I wasn't implying anything negative ... a better choice of words would have been somerthing like, "... if potential erosion isn't an issue ..."

And yes, we have an excellent conservation nursery. Elderberries have been $7/25 one year old bare root plants.

Anyway ... yes, those road crew brush-hoggers are a pain in the neck!

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Bob, can you post their address, I am going to convert a fencerow to put in lots of elderberries this spring and it would be cool to have wild ones to compare to all of our cultivated berries, plus I was thinking that maybe one or the other would produce if something like blossom blight got the cultivated ones but not the wild ones, and, we have never made wine from the wild ones and it seems there may be a difference?? even though the tames ones are really just selected from the wild, its not like they are hybrid tomatoes.

Crackedcork

I wasn't implying anything negative ... a better choice of words would have been somerthing like, "... if potential erosion isn't an issue ..."

And yes, we have an excellent conservation nursery. Elderberries have been $7/25 one year old bare root plants.

Anyway ... yes, those road crew brush-hoggers are a pain in the neck!

 

[docanddeb]

I thought they WERE hybrids... WOW. So they will stay true even though they are cross pollinated with the others? I hadn't thought about that aspect!

Debbie

 

[BobF]

Bob, can you post their address ...
Crackedcork

CC - Here's info, but the plants are only for use in the state of MO ...

#458 is elderberry
http://mdc.mo.gov/sites/default/files/resources/2010/04/10_11seedlingorderform.pdf


General info:
http://mdc.mo.gov/landwater-care/landowners-and-farmers/seedling-orders/state-forest-nursery

This is a VERY cool resource

 

[BobF]

I thought they WERE hybrids... WOW. So they will stay true even though they are cross pollinated with the others? I hadn't thought about that aspect!

Debbie

Deb -

My possibly incorrect understanding:

The named cultivars were selected from wild bushes and propogated by those they're named for. Different varieties occur naturally. These differences occur through cross pollination and propogation from seed. Propogation from cuttings always results in a new plant of the same variety as the donor.

IME picking wild elders, I've seen MANY different looking plants and berry sizes/shapes.

My intent is to one day select/propogate the elders I like best from the ones I'm growing. Unless I decide 500-1000#/year is enough berries

 

[BobF]

Berlin... near Oshkosh.

Debbie

I've ridden through Oshkosh, but I don't remember a Berlin anywhere.

WI is a great place to cycle (motor). Neat little towns spaced just far enough apart, each with a nice place to grab refreshments.

BUT ... it seemed to me like winter lasted from September through June

 

[docanddeb]

We see differences around here too... one easy way to see the difference is whether the stems are reddish or green. Berry size is definitely different too.

If the plant grows from the same roots... kind of like how quack grass spreads... then they would be true. Seeds falling from birds could be a cross, right?? If you take cuttings from your favorite plants, they would stay true.

I guess I hadn't thought about this kind of stuff for a LONG time!

Debbie