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Elders end up growing so tall that when they fruit out they can be so heavy it causes the branches to split and may die so I prune them. You can take the pruned branches and simply push the cut end into the dirt and let them go. I probably get a 90% take using this method. They start easy ! They just love water! A ditch line or a creekbank are ideal locations.
That is so good to hear!! I so want to start some but my lawn has been so wet for the past year and a half. My only other concern is that I have several black walnut trees, and I know that not all plants can thrive with the jugulone.
I have heard that comfrey is great to plant near your fruit tree, because it helps to bring up the things that your trees need to stay healthy. Have you heard of that?
Yes! Comfrey is a nitrogen fixing plant and is great to plant near or with your fruit trees. Also rhubarb and lupin are nitrogen fixers. Added bonus, they’re beautiful!
Have been on my property for 7 years. I had burn pile that I wanted to move, and oh my goodness athe edge, I found a plant and thought to look it up, and oh my goodness, it was an elderberry. I am so excited.
Glad to hear this! I’m in Texas and I’ve been wanting to grow some but running out of full sun spots for my plants. Plenty of shady garden area left though!
If you plant the elderberry cutting where the node (where the leaves sprout) is just below ground level the leaves and roots will develop at that spot. If your cutting has 2 nodes you can bury 1 and leave the other above the ground. It depends on how it was cutting. When I cut my own cuttings I want at least 3 inches above and below the node (so it doesn't dry out too fash and plant directly in soil. You get more cuttings if the nodes are more than 6 inches apart. Otherwise I'll keep 2 nodes to a cutting. The woody part of the plant has the best chance at growing the top of the elderberry were the stem is less dense doesn't make a good cutting so I will utilize the top 12 inches for a cutting. This is what I've learned through many mistakes of my own. I put my cuttings in a pot (early fall after elderberry harveat)of soil so I can control watering better than in the ground. Once there's good growth I plant in the ground (cuttings in the spring once the plants sprout new leaves) after the threat of frost).
What I've found to increase rooting success (I have grapes and willow currently) is get maple/oak leaf mulch/compost by either piling up your leaves or scraping some leaf covered soil from around a tree and using that as potting soil. The high percentage of biology and beneficial fungus and slight tannic acidity from the leaves will help sprouting.
We have wild elderberries here on the mountain. Almost have to have a ladder to harvest berries (deer & moose LOVE them too hence. why they are SO tall - the moose). Will be hiking and getting some cuttings for my orchard area (all 8' fenced). Great plants. But BEWARE the 4 footed beauties that love them too :).
We grow black elderberry in our suburban lot. Every year we cut it back to 6 inches above ground in end of Jan or early Feb. We end up with well over 100 cuttings which we root and pot up and sell. The bigger stems we just put in the ground.
You probably have the wild comfrey then, which is what the Indians used. The purple flowered ones are actually a hybrid. Not GMO though! I forget the scientific names, but it's easy to find out. 👍
I got my comfrey cuttings from Perma Pastures Farm about 1 1/2 years ago. Shoved them in a couple of my raised beds around the edges and they grew fast. Made Comfrey Salve last year and still have a bunch of tins left. I would do elderberries too, but there isn't any room in my garden for a tree. And I couldn't plant it on the property unless it was 100% deer proof.
I have twenty elderberry bushes growing on a quarter acre lot. Our first year, the deer came along and ate down one bush out of all the ones planted. For some reason just that one bush. It grew back. This is year seven for us to have them. We cut them down every other season, and that little bush is finally as big as the rest. And we still have the deer, they know and love my garden very well. Haha. I just make some concessions for them and also have the crucial things deeply protected, along with a nice wire fence around my full garden space.
Yes, the deer also eat on one of my bushes! It's still hanging in there! Every year it grows back, and every year the deer eat it down to a branch! Lol... I do try to plant other things for them to eat! Like turnips and beets. They also like comfrey! If you plant a lot of that, they might leave the elders alone? 🤔
A farm I used to work on several years ago grew and used comfrey as a organic liquid fertiliser, it was great for saplings. Had around 40 large plants. Take the lower leaves off and put them in a raised large water butt. When it was time to use the liquid fertiliser we used 500mills of liquid comfrey to 5lts of warm water. And we had many 1 litre containers full of comfrey juice ready to go
THANK YOU for this video!! My local nursery didn’t get any of their seeds to germinate so I tried and two weeks later no growth that I can see yet. I was getting discouraged that I wouldn’t get the comfrey I wanted this year, even after working a deal with my neighbor beekeeper to trade beeswax for salve! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! I ordered some comfrey and elderberry!!
One of the native Elders up here in the NW get up to full on trees size. Great pollen producers, I have 4 that are on their 3rd year and a bunch I have been rooting in a grow area over the Winter.
Kailey, I think, you meant to say that comfrey is also called "knitbone" not boneset. Boneset is a common name for eupatorium perfolatium, aka rabbit tobacco 😊. Now, correct me if I am wrong 😂
But, I too look out for food for the bees! Before last year, there weren't many bees at all, which worried me! Thankfully, I've been seeing more and more bees in my area! I love my girls too! Even though I don't actually bee keep.. 😉
It’s everywhere around me in S.FL… we are also very lucky once yours gets established I’ve noticed we have either flowers or berries most of the year!!! I haven’t had much luck at the house in the borders, but I’ve heard it grows well in wet areas, so I’ll try again, let me know how yours do @septembercindy
Comfrey seeds needs to be refrigerated for 30 days in moist soil.. put it in a ziploc bag and I used a spoon to scoop it out and put it in a pot with dry Soil right on top.. they germinated within 7-10 days .. I spritzed with water to keep it moist .. no need to water the seeds in refrigerator cause it will keep it moist
once you have comfrey its hard to kill them. (Once they're established) I have successfully taken pieces from my comfrey roots (where the new plants shoot up from). I have also had good success in using the stalk with a growth band on it. I feed comfrey leaves to my chickens occasionally and will cut the stem into segments with a wider growth band on each piece and push them into the dirt. Its not 100% but good enought that I'm willing to take the time to do it.
Great video! I’ve started comfrey from root cuttings. Very successful leafing out - healthy and vibrant but NONE have successfully transitioned to outdoors. Any advice?
I was lucky enough to have a sister while she lived in a local tree farm, share some comfrey plants. since then I have shared some plants. They grow wonderfully and the bees love them. I even made a salve from them.
I love comfrey and look forward to using elderberry....QUESTION; do you make elderberry tinctures and sell them? Right now I live in an apt and will have land in another 2 yrs,..
Thank you for your wonderful videos! My son and daughter in law are starting their homestead...slowly planting and growing and have added chickens and pot belly pigs! I'd love to get my daughter in law that tool you are using in this video for her. Can you post a link or the name of it? Please and thank you! Keep these wonderful videos coming!! We love you!
Hiii I have a question, my husband bought me an elderberry tree, SAMBUCUS NIGRA ‘BLACK LACE’ ELDERBERRY. Is this version safe/beneficial to harvest berries from to make medicinal syrups? Which is my intended purpose of the plant. I know there is different types of plants. Would love your feedback before planting! Thanks in advance and love learning from you!
The comfrey root that is being used in this video could have been broken into 3 cuttings for more plants. Comfrey doesn't start well from seed. I have comfrey growing everywhere from using 2" root cuttings.
If you have nearby community gardens they are a great resource for acquiring plants. I will take very small cuttings from plants like elderberry, raspberry’s, fruit trees even kiwi. I refuse to buy plants or soil!
I really like the tool you were using to plant the comfrey. I followed the link you gave to another commenter, but couldn't find the knife. Could you provide a link or spell out the name so I can do an online search. Thank you
I have been growing elder for 7-8 years and I started with two plants of 2 varieties. They are now serving as a hedge as I have dug up the runners and planted it in a row. They do spread but are not invasive.
