Field Guide · Propagation · 7 min read

How to Root Elderberry Cuttings

Take dormant sticks in late winter and you will have rooted shrubs by summer. Elderberry roots almost as easily as fig.

Written on the farm by Nathan Story · Story Thyme Farms, Missouri · Updated

Story Thyme Farms · Bench cardLate winter, dormant

How to root elderberry cuttings

Sambucus canadensis. Dormant hardwood cuttings

DifficultyEasy
Cut8–12", 2–3 nodes
Plant byMid March
Fruit inYear 2–3
1Taking the cuttingsCut dormant canes, pencil thick or thicker
2Soaking themSoak overnight in a bucket of water
3Planting themBury the lowest node two inches down
4The first seasonWater weekly, keep weeds off, and wait
Materials needed · Bypass pruners · 5-gallon bucket · 1-gallon nursery pots · Potting mix
Written on the farm · Missouristorythymefarms.com/guides/how-to-root-elderberry-cuttings

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How to harvest elderberries and make syrup Elderberry, harvest to syrup →

The long version

Watercolor plate of elderberry hardwood cuttings with new roots and buds
Sambucus canadensis · field plate

Every elderberry hedge on this farm started as a stick. Take dormant wood in late winter, keep two nodes above ground and bury one. Enough of them take that we plant them straight into the spot where we want the shrub.

  1. Step 1 · Taking the cuttings

    Cut dormant canes, pencil thick or thicker

    Watercolour plate of a bundle of dormant leafless elderberry canes cut into hand-length sections, pale lenticel-flecked bark, two or three swelling buds on each

    Do this between January and early March, while the shrub is leafless. Cut eight to twelve inch sections of last year's wood, at least half an inch thick, with two or three pairs of nodes. Cut the top flat and the bottom at an angle so you never plant one upside down.

  2. Step 2 · Soaking them

    Soak overnight in a bucket of water

    Watercolour plate of elderberry hardwood cuttings standing upright in a bucket of clear water soaking, bark darkened with wet

    Dormant wood is shipped and stored dry. Soaking for 12 to 24 hours rehydrates the cane and brings it out of dormancy. Some growers soak for a full week, changing the water daily. Overnight has always been enough here.

  3. Step 3 · Planting them

    Bury the lowest node two inches down

    Watercolour plate of an elderberry cutting pushed into dark damp soil with its lowest node buried two inches down, a cross-section showing the buried node below the surface

    Plant them straight into a pot of damp mix or into worked garden soil. Set each cutting so its lowest node sits about two inches below the surface. Roots grow from the buried nodes and leaves from the ones above ground. Press the soil down firmly against the wood.

  4. Step 4 · The first season

    Water weekly, keep weeds off, and wait

    Watercolour plate of a rooted elderberry cutting in its first summer with fresh green compound leaves, bare clean soil around the base, a watering can beside

    Leaves often appear before roots do, so do not assume a leafy cutting has taken. Keep the soil evenly moist through the first summer and keep grass away from the base. By fall, a cutting that took will have real roots. It fruits a little in year two and properly in year three.

Materials needed
Bypass pruners5-gallon bucket1-gallon nursery potsPotting mix

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Questions we actually get

Do elderberry cuttings need rooting hormone?
No. American elderberry roots readily from dormant hardwood without it. Hormone does no harm, but the money is better spent on more cuttings.
Can I root elderberry cuttings in water?
You can start them in a jar with the bottom node submerged, and many people do, but move them to soil as soon as roots show. Long water rooting makes brittle roots.
How far apart do I plant them?
Six to ten feet for a hedge that closes ranks in three years. Plant two different varieties within sight of each other for heavier berry set.
From the plant library

Elderberry — the full profile

Zones, cold-hardy cultivars, spacing, feeding, and where to buy one already rooted.

Open the elderberry guide →