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Sambucas nigra Black Lace isn’t happy

BuffalogalBuffalogal Posts: 25
in Problem solving
Hi can anyone help please?  Have this beautiful Elder in the garden that we inherited when we moved in. We’ve not done anything other than prune the height occasionally. However this year it appears to be dying. Branches are snapping off when touched and there is a quarter of the foliage that usually appears. I don’t know what to to!!

Posts

  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    You could try coppicing it to rejuvenate the whole plant (a winter job).
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • BuffalogalBuffalogal Posts: 25
    Loxley said:
    You could try coppicing it to rejuvenate the whole plant (a winter job).
    Thank you for your reply however please excuse my ignorance, coppicing means what exactly?
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Coppicing means cutting it down hard so that it grows a thicket of new branches from the stumps that you leave. I prune my Black Lace plants that way every year. With yours I would wait until late winter/early spring, then cut the main trunks back to maybe 12to 18 inches or so above the ground and completely remove the weak thin twiggy bits that are coming from below that level. Others may do it differently, there's no single right way. Meanwhile you have a decent show of flowers to enjoy.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • BuffalogalBuffalogal Posts: 25
    JennyJ said:
    Coppicing means cutting it down hard so that it grows a thicket of new branches from the stumps that you leave. I prune my Black Lace plants that way every year. With yours I would wait until late winter/early spring, then cut the main trunks back to maybe 12to 18 inches or so above the ground and completely remove the weak thin twiggy bits that are coming from below that level. Others may do it differently, there's no single right way. Meanwhile you have a decent show of flowers to enjoy.
    Many thanks.🙏🏼
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