How Quick is Quick?

I’m thinking of buying a Sambucus nigra to help with some screening but need to persuade OH that he won’t be waiting years for it to do the job. He’s happy to spend more money to get the job done so that’s not an issue but I want to buy something I really like rather than an expensive “solution”

I’ve heard that it grows quickly but how much growth can I realistically expect in say frost 12 months?

It’s not helping my cause that we already have a Sambucus Blue Sheen, which has been quite slow growing height wise and has never really bulked up.

Also any views on Gerda vs Eva (aka Black Lace)

Thank you

 

They aren't the fastest when first planted like all plants but will soon shoot up when its established its self . They can easily grow 5-6ft in a year when they are established . I have black lace - mum has black beauty and next door has sutherland gold and all are very vigorous.

 

I agree with Perki, I've grown numerous sambucus and they all take a few years to really mature and produce strong growth but when they do they grow rapidly. This year with all the rain I have never seen them grow as fast and lush.
They are very easy from cuttings so you can propagate more material to help the spread if needed.

 

I had a Sambucus Black Tower a couple of years ago. It didn't make much progress in the first year and I decided that I didn't like the colour by then so it came out! Have you considered Cotinus? They do grow quickly. C. Grace is my favourite shrub.

 

For me Sambucus "Black Lace" puts on a lot more growth in a season than Cotinus "Royal Purple" from the same sort of fairly hard spring pruning. "Black Lace" gets pretty big if you just leave it to grow without the annual pruning (a friend of mine did that with a cutting that I gave her) but the best foliage and the flowers will be up at the top like an unpruned buddleia.

 

Thanks everyone. I love the foliage colours of Cotinus, @Plantminded, but never sure about the flowers

I think I’m going to go with Black Lace

 

Good luck with it @Butterfly6, it’s a lovely plant, I wish I’d chosen it instead of Black Tower!

 

I planted one specimen of Sambucus nigra Black Lace ‘Eva’ in the autumn of 2022. As recommended (and mentioned by @JennyJB ) I do prune it severely at the end of winter in order to keep it in good shape with nice foliage and flowers from the base. It throws a lot of growth already, despite its young age. Love it.

 

Hi, I bought a tall black lace plant earlier this year because I wanted ‘instant impact’ for a corner I was overhauling. Arrived 14 March and planted a couple of days later. This is how it looked on 19 May (too wet to take a photo atm).

I had only seen it while browsing the internet, so not totally sure how it will look ultimately. It is still a bit sparse, but after 2 months - has plenty of branches and put on a fair amount of height. There are also plenty of flowers forming.

I suspect I should have cut it back it to make it bushier, but I’m happy to see what happens this season and trim after flowering. In retrospect, I could have bought a smaller plant - but no regrets, as it seems happy enough in its new home.

 

I've had this one for about 10 -12 years.
I prune out some stems each year to keep it from getting too tall and thin out any over-enthusiastic stems at any time.

 

@Pete8 That looks lovely. Can I ask how it looks in winter? As mine arrived as a big stick in a box, does it drop lot of branches/leaves?? Thanks.

 

Thanks
It's deciduous so drops all the leaves in autumn leaving bare branches.
It hasn't dropped any branches as far as I'm aware.

 

Thanks @Pete8 Really looking forward to seeing how mine turns out.

 

Here are mine, all pruned sometime around late March.
First S. "Black Lace" pruned to about 2'6", now maybe 7' or so, I have to look up to the top of it.


Second S. "Black Lace" (which is actually the parent of the first one) pruned lower to about 18", now maybe 5' at the highest point (eye level on me).


Cotinus "Royal Purple" in the back of another border, pruned to about 18", now maybe 4' at the tallest point but tending to spread sideways.


All of them will continue to get bigger and bushier over the summer, drop their leaves in autumn, then get pruned again next spring, about as they're coming into leaf is the plan but sometimes I'm a bit late getting to it.

 

Hi all.
I have a Sambucus Black Lace. It's a few years old and is about 10-12 feet high. I have a question... I noticed fungus growing on one of the stems,,, brown, jelly like, flat shaped. I pulled what I could see off the plant. Will this fungus harm the tree? Does the growth signify it's on its death bed, so to speak?
I would hate to lose it.
Many grateful thanks.