Annoying Elderberry Tree

Hi,

There is an elderberry tree in our garden and it's horrible when the berries come out. The birds eat the berries and defecate it everywhere and the berries fall all over the lawn ready for our toddler children to pick up and eat. We only have a very small garden so it is a big tree comparatively that is quite imposing.

I am getting to the point I just want to chop it down, is there a way at the very least I can stop it producing berries? this year looks worse. Failing that, are there any other alternatives rather than chopping the thing down?

Thanks in advance

Matt

 

Hi Matt. I don't think there's any way you can stop that elderberry from flowering and berrying. If you really don't want it the only option is to chop it down and I think it would regrow unless you treated the stump or removed it.
See what others think.

You could try cutting all the flowers off if that's possible - that would put an end to the berries. Might be easier to fell the tree.

 

Hi Matt40,

As Alice suggested removing all the flowers will prevent them from producing berries, but a more permanent solution would be to fell the tree altogether. Simples.

 

I need a huge ladder that stands upright on it's own though! Can I splice the trunk and put in another species? remember from my biology 'o' level days you could do something like this or did I dream it?

 

Matt, you have only two options, cut it down or put up with it.:gnthb:

 

Sorry, 3 options. Third one, start making Elderflower/berry wine/jam.:gnthb:

 

Chop it down if you dont want it.
Its basically a weed that appears all over my garden, they are nice shrubs, but have their own set of problems, and not good in a small garden.

 

Pick the flowers and make Elderflower Cordial with them. You pay a fortune for it in the shops and here's you with the raw materials in your garden.

Either that or chop it down. Do the berries cause the children problems when they eat them?

 

You dreamt it :D

 

Propagating!! that's what I learn't at biology o level, something to do with fusing a tree with another one!

 

That`s not propagating that`s Grafting.:gnthb:

 

ive just cut three off these out of my garden.
if you are worried about any environmental impact of cutting down a tree why not put a nicer , more appropriate one in its place?