Sambucus nigra 'Black Lace

My sambucus nigra isn't doing too well has lost most of its foliage, any idea why?

 

Drought.

 

So how often should I water? A bucketful every 2nd day do?

 

About a bucketful every three days should be sufficient, if there’s been no rain. You could also add a mulch of organic matter to your soil to help to retain moisture such as garden compost, leaf mould or farmyard manure.

 

It always depends on your location, and therefore your general climate, as to how often you water. The soil also dictates. A shrub/tree in good, moisture retentive soil, in a wetter area, will need less watering than one in a drier area with lighter soil. I rarely have to water any shrub/tree more than a couple of times in a season after planting, even if planted in late spring or summer. Once it's autumn, that's them fine.
However, it's always a difficult subject to offer advice on, because light, or inadequate, watering can definitely be detrimental rather than helpful, and overwatering on poorly prepped, heavy ground can be the same.

The soil around your plant doesn't look brilliant @Endless Pursuit , but photos can be deceptive. When was it planted? It's always good practise to make sure the soil's in good condition before planting anything, but the aforementioned mulching over the next couple of months, and beyond if needed, will certainly help.
If you pour a canful of water slowly around it, does it disappear fairly quickly, or does it sit there for a long time? That helps determine the conditoins of the soil, and how much water is needed

 

I'm south west scotland, the soil should be good as i got 40 ton screeded soil delivered for the garden, although it has been down nearly 4 years now, it was roughly planted about 2 months ago, it takes less than a bucketful to drain into the soil.

 

Thanks will try that

 

Where did you get it from ? It's not a brilliant looking specimen if you've only had it such a short time. Larger plants are always harder to establish too, because they'll often drop foliage to enable the roots to get established. It's also important to ensure the rootball isn't dry when planted as it can then be harder to get it properly moistened, so that can also be a reason for some leaf drop.

However, it'll be next year before it's properly established and thriving. Some extra organic matter will help though, because that benefits the soil structure as well as the plant itself.

 

I got it off an garden centre in ebay, to be fair it was a fairly healthy looking plant when i got it, so i do think lack of water has it looking worse than it should be. I have added some half rotted compost under the root ball and will mix some around it