Black Lace is a fast, forgiving shrub, and the best time to prune it is the dormant season, in late winter to early spring before new leaves appear. It tolerates anything from a light tidy to a cut all the way to the ground, so the real choice is what you want from the plant. Pruning harder trades away some flowers and berries for fresher foliage, which matters if you grow it for the pink blooms as well as the dark leaves. Dead, damaged, diseased or bug-infested canes and suckers can come out whenever you see them.
Why Late Winter Works Best
Elderberry blooms on the current season’s growth, so pruning should be finished in late winter or early spring.1Extension. What is the best way to grow elderberries? Cut after new growth has begun and you remove shoots that would have carried this year’s flowers and fruit.2The Spruce. How to Grow and Care for Black Lace Elderberry That growth includes new shoots from the base and the side shoots that grow from 1-year-old and some 2-year-old canes.3Utah State University Extension. How to Grow Elderberry in Your Garden
To tell whether the plant is still dormant, look at the buds. Bare stems with tight, closed buds are safe to cut. Once the buds swell and green tips appear, new growth has begun. In zone 4 the window runs later than in zone 7, so go by the buds rather than the calendar. A dry day after the worst of the cold has passed is ideal.
The breeder suggests pruning right after bloom for Black Lace,4Proven Winners. Black Lace® Elderberry Sambucus nigra but that removes the berries that would follow. Prune after bloom only if you grow the shrub for its leaves and don’t care about fruit.
A mistimed cut won’t kill the plant, because it is vigorous. Expect fewer flowers that year. Fall pruning is the one to avoid, since fresh cuts sit exposed through winter. If the branch tips have started to extend into leafy shoots, cut only dead or damaged wood and leave the rest until next winter.
Thinning Out Old Stems Each Year
A standard pruning starts by removing all dead, diseased or damaged stems.5University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry. Growing and Marketing Elderberries in Missouri Next, take out most wood that is three years old or older.6University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry. Growing and Marketing Elderberries in Missouri Woody stems grow weaker and less attractive as they age, so removing them sends energy into newer, better-looking stems.7The Spruce. How to Grow and Care for Black Lace Elderberry Weak canes can be tipped back to strong wood.8University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry. Growing and Marketing Elderberries in Missouri Finally, thin the inside of the shrub so light reaches the center.9Extension Dane County. Black Laceâ„¢ Elderberry: A Landscape Standout
Telling the ages apart is easier than it sounds. New canes are smooth and flexible. Older canes have rougher, thicker bark and lots of side branching. Dead stems snap easily and show brown inside when you scratch them. If you want to track ages, tie a bit of tape on a few stems and note the year.
If you never tracked them, the thickest, grayest, roughest canes are the oldest candidates for removal. Where two canes look similar, keep the sturdier, smoother one and remove its weaker neighbor.
Start by cutting the old canes at the base, close to the ground. Then remove any crossing stems rubbing against each other in the center. Keep a mix of one- and two-year-old canes for flowers, and step back often to check the overall shape. Bypass pruners handle thin stems, while loppers or a pruning saw suit thick old canes. Sharp blades make clean cuts that heal faster.
Annual selective pruning gave the highest yields in trials of American elderberry,10HortScience. Productivity and Characteristics of American Elderberry in Response to Various Pruning Methods so thinning is the best choice if you want plenty of flowers and berries. Regular pruning also keeps the shrub vigorous and attractive and limits its spread.11The Spruce. How to Grow and Care for Black Lace Elderberry
Cutting It to the Ground
Black Lace can be cut to the ground each year and grown like a perennial.12Proven Winners. Black Lace® Elderberry Sambucus nigra Many elderberries do well when cut completely to the ground in winter,13University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry. Growing and Marketing Elderberries in Missouri because the plant is fast-growing and can reach full size within a single season.14The Spruce. How to Grow and Care for Black Lace Elderberry
The trade-offs are real, though modest. Cutting yearly or every other year still gave satisfactory berry yields with far less work.15HortScience. Productivity and Characteristics of American Elderberry in Response to Various Pruning Methods It produced fewer flower clusters, though each was larger.16HortScience. Productivity and Characteristics of American Elderberry in Response to Various Pruning Methods Plants that flowered only on new stems ripened fruit 2 to 3 weeks later.17HortScience. Productivity and Characteristics of American Elderberry in Response to Various Pruning Methods Ripening was also more uniform, so the harvest window was shorter.18University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry. Growing and Marketing Elderberries in Missouri
Choose the hard cut for a compact plant with fresh, dark foliage, and thinning for the most flowers and berries. Cutting to the ground every other year is a middle path. Leave stubs a few inches tall above the crown, and cut cleanly rather than crushing the stems.
In spring the crown sends up many new shoots, so the plant looks bare for only a short time. By midsummer the shrub is usually back to near full size, though it may be a little shorter and denser than an uncut plant. Because every flower stem is brand new, blooms open later, so don’t worry if your neighbor’s elderberry flowers first.
Removing Dead, Diseased, or Bug-Damaged Canes
Prune out swollen galls caused by rust fungus.19Wisconsin Horticulture. Elderberry Rust Cut 4 to 6 inches below each gall,20Wisconsin Horticulture. Elderberry Rust and between cuts, dip or wipe tools for at least 30 seconds in 70% rubbing alcohol or a 10% bleach solution.21Wisconsin Horticulture. Elderberry Rust Removing galls also limits the spread of the fungus to nearby sedges.22Wisconsin Horticulture. Elderberry Rust
Borer grubs tunnel inside canes.23Ask Extension. Elder Borer Remove the cane just below the wilted part as soon as you notice it.24Pacific Northwest Pest Management Handbooks. Elderberry (Sambucus)-Borer During the growing season, prune out shoots that have holes in them.25University of Missouri Extension. Spindle Worms In Elderberry Shoots In winter, remove dead canes so the insects have fewer places to develop.26University of Missouri Extension. Spindle Worms In Elderberry Shoots Burn infested prunings or remove them from the area, and keep them out of the compost.27Ask Extension. Elder Borer28University of Missouri Extension. Spindle Worms In Elderberry Shoots
A suddenly wilting shoot in summer can mean a borer inside, especially if you also find small holes along the stem. Rust galls show up as swollen, orange-tinged growths.
In spring, it can be hard to tell whether a cane is dead or just late. Scratch a small patch of bark with a fingernail: green and moist underneath means alive, brown and dry means dead. If it’s still unclear, wait until the plant has fully leafed out, since dead canes won’t produce leaves while living ones will. Cut dead wood back to healthy tissue or to the base, whichever is closer.
Controlling Suckers and Spread
Black Lace spreads by suckers, which are new shoots that rise from the roots, and by self-seeding.29Plant Addicts. Black Lace® Elderberry It isn’t considered invasive, but it is an aggressive spreader.30The Spruce. How to Grow and Care for Black Lace Elderberry If you don’t want it to spread, prune suckers whenever you find them.31The Spruce. How to Grow and Care for Black Lace Elderberry If you do, you can let them grow into an informal hedge or screen.32The Spruce. How to Grow and Care for Black Lace Elderberry
Cut each sucker at or just below the soil line, tracing it back toward the root to find where it starts. Check every few weeks in summer. Mulch makes new suckers easier to spot. Repeated cutting through the season gradually exhausts the energy that feeds them, so a few short visits through the summer work better than one long session.
Self-sown seedlings can also pop up in nearby beds, and they are easiest to pull while small. Removing spent flower clusters reduces seeding, though it costs you the berries.
Training Black Lace Into a Small Tree
Stake one main stem so it grows straight up.33Houzz. Sambucus Black Lace…. tree form? Each season, remove the lowest set of branches, and repeat until the trunk thickens and the plant reaches the height you want.34Houzz. Sambucus Black Lace…. tree form? Shorten the side branches to encourage more budding and to keep them from getting floppy.35Houzz. Sambucus Black Lace…. tree form? Remove sprouts on the trunk and new canes from the root crown too.36Houzz. Sambucus Black Lace…. tree form? Training a shrub into a tree takes patience and a lot of time.37Houzz. Sambucus Black Lace…. tree form?
Pick the straightest, sturdiest young stem, preferably one rising from the crown in a good position, and remove its competitors. Choose it in late winter when the structure is easy to see, and tie it loosely to the stake so the stem can thicken without being strangled.
A tree form needs ongoing care. Suckers keep coming, so plan on regular removal. A single trunk means no stems to rotate out as they age, and old wood weakens over time, so the trunk may eventually need replacing. If training fails, cutting to the ground can restart the plant.
Rooting Your Cuttings
Black elderberry cuttings rooted at a rate of 95 to 100%,38Current Trends in Natural Sciences. EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS ON ROOTING CAPACITY OF BLACK ELDERBERRY CUTTINGS so healthy prunings are worth saving rather than tossing. Never use canes with borers or galls for cuttings.
Pick healthy canes about as thick as a pencil or a bit thicker, taken from the pieces you’ve already removed during winter pruning. Take dormant pieces with several buds, so there are buds both below and above the soil line. Cut straight across at the bottom just below a bud, and at an angle at the top, which also helps you keep track of which end was up. Stick them in moist potting mix and keep it damp until leaves appear. Black Lace is a patented variety, so propagation is for personal use only.
Care After Pruning
Give it at least 1 inch of water per week from rain plus watering.39The Spruce. How to Grow and Care for Black Lace Elderberry Feed it a balanced fertilizer once in spring and once in summer.40The Spruce. How to Grow and Care for Black Lace Elderberry It grows best in moderately fertile, moist, well-drained soil in full or partial sun.41Plant Addicts. Black Lace® Elderberry
After a hard cut, regrowth is rapid, so steady water matters, and the spring feeding supports that fast growth. Mulch helps keep soil moisture steady. Don’t overfeed, which encourages floppy growth.
Water deeply at the base rather than sprinkling the leaves. Drooping that lasts into the morning usually means the plant needs water; check that the soil is dry before watering.