Common Elderberry / Elderflower Hedge Plants

• Latin name: Sambucus nigra
• Common names: Elder, Elderflower, Elderberry
• Sold as: Bareroot, 60/80cm
• Native: Yes
• Foliage: Deciduous, turning pale yellow in autumn
• Flowers and fruit: Fragrant cream flowers in early summer, then small black berries. Both are used in the kitchen
• Ultimate size unpruned: A large shrub or small tree to about 6m tall and 2.5 to 4m wide
• Spacing: 2 plants per metre, 50cm apart
• Use: Rough country hedging and wildlife cover, on its own and not in a mixed row
• Best soil and site: Almost any, extreme chalk included. Sun or partial shade, exposed or sheltered
• Hardiness: H6, hardy through the British winter
• Delivered: Bareroot, November to April. Collection from Castle Cary also available

Elder is a native large shrub or small tree with fragrant cream flowers in early summer and black berries after them, and you can use both in the kitchen. It grows almost anywhere, extreme chalk included, and it takes hard pruning. As a hedge it is rough and vigorous, so give it a run of its own.

Common Elderberry / Elderflower Hedge Plants

The Common Elderflower or Elderberry tree, Sambucus nigra, is a large native shrub or small tree with graceful, fern-like leaves. It produces deliciously scented white flowers and purple berries, which are both edible. It can be used as a rough, rugged country hedging plant and will grow almost anywhere.
Left alone, Elderflower makes a verdant tree about 6 metres high: for more ornamental value, have a look at our Golden Elder or the lovely cultivar Black Lace.

Browse our selection of native hedging or our full range of hedging plants.

Delivery season: Bareroot plants are delivered during late autumn and winter, approximately November-April inclusive.

Growing Elderberry

It's indestructible and will grow practically anywhere in the UK, including piles of construction rubbish, and very sandy coastal soils. In full shade, it'll become sparse and produce few flowers, but otherwise be fine. Few shrubs are easier to grow. I once hacked an old elder to smithereens to remove it, and dumped the pieces into an area of the garden that was left to grow wild with plenty of nettles and brambles: two years later, there was an Elder thicket there, already higher than the weeds.

Spacing an Elderflower hedge: Being such a bulky beast, a 50cm spacing is fine.

This plant makes a nice solid hedge by itself, but it's aggressive and is not recommended for a mixed hedge. It'll never form a tidy, formal hedge and looks best when it's allowed to get a bit overgrown.

Garden Design Ideas

Elder is included in some mixed hedging packs although isn't really suitable for planting in the middle of a native hedge because it'll aggressively grow into the plants beside it. You can control this with hard pruning, but to save you the effort we recommend using it only at the end of a hedge, on a strip by itself, or planting it away from the hedge and letting it grow as a large shrub or small tree. Letting it grow freely will also give you a lot more flower heads and then berries. A farm near us has about 100m of solid elder hedge that they cut back in alternating 2-3 metre sections every year, so that there is always a good crop of flowers on the sections that were not trimmed.

History & Trivia

Our own Elderflower cordial recipe makes a fabulous soft drink, and easy to prepare. With a bit more work, you can also make Elderflower syrup and Elderflower champagne. It is widely used in alcoholic drinks across Europe, such as types of Hungarian brandy and Swedish snaps. You can also try battering the flowers and quickly frying them for a cheap but exotic snack.

It is usually the case with widespread native plants that are also useful to humans to have a lot of common names from various regions, which include: acte, arn, boon, bur, boor and pipe tree.

Planting Companions

Elder elbows its neighbours, so plant it at the end of a native hedge of Hawthorn and Hazel, or on a strip of its own. For more colour from the same plant, Golden Elder and Black Lace are garden forms of it. Dust bareroot roots with Rootgrow as you plant.

Why Ashridge?

Hedging is not a sideline here: your Elder is grown for us as hedging by specialist growers. Bareroot plants are lifted to order while dormant and guaranteed for 12 months. Ashridge has sold plants since 1949 and is a Which? Best Plant Supplier 2025.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Elder native to Britain?

Yes. Sambucus nigra is a native plant.

How big does Elder grow?

Left alone, it makes a bushy large shrub or small tree to about 6 metres tall and 2.5 to 4 metres wide. It tolerates hard pruning, so you can hold it well below that.

Can you use Elder in a mixed native hedge?

We advise against it. Elder grows hard into the plants beside it. Use it at the end of a hedge, on a strip by itself, or as a free-standing shrub, where it also flowers and fruits more.

Will Elder grow on chalk?

Yes. It thrives even on extremely chalky sites, and it is easy in any moderately fertile, moist but well-drained soil.

Will Elder grow in shade?

In partial shade, yes. In full shade it becomes sparse and carries few flowers, so give it some sun if you want Elderflowers and berries.

How do you prune an Elder hedge?

As hard as you like. To keep the flowers coming, cut alternate sections back each year, so that the sections you left alone carry the crop.

When are the plants delivered?

Bareroot only, from November to April, while the plants are dormant. You can order at any time of year and your plants are lifted and sent once the season opens.