Gardening Questions Sambuca Nigra

Found this on the BBC Gardening site , hope it helps

One of a number of ornamental varieties bred from our native elder, 'Black Lace' makes a striking plant for the back of the border. It has very finely cut, almost black foliage, which is the perfect foil to the pink-flushed blooms. It will grow almost anywhere, including difficult conditions such as waterlogged or very chalky ground. In autumn, leaves turn rich red. To produce the best coloured leaves, prune plants back to ground level every year in early spring.

We have one we bought in a sale at the end of 2006 and planted last year. The info that came with it said it likes sun or partial shade in any fertile soil. And as, above, suggests pruning in spring to maintain shape and size.

Ours was badly attacked by Aphids last year and didn't seem to get over that - so I am still waiting to see the flowers, the promised berries and indeed the rich red leaves referred to by Weemamabell. Hoping ours does better this year, and would love to hear how yours goes.

By the way, I see Grenville has a good photograph of one and some further information about it on this site.

We have one of these in our garden, for the first year it didnt do much ,so we moved to an east facing wall and it took off, it grew 5 foot last year and we had to cut it back by half. so that it wouldnt break in the wind,as we hadnt got a cane long enough...lovely plant, a picture when the pink blooms come out

It hates being too dry and warm. I lost my first one due to wrong position, the 'new' one is thriving in a more shaded and damp position. I would not cut it back too hard at first, though, let it get a foothold!

Sambucus should be planted in good rich composted soil as they can be quite greedy.They require regular watering and should be planted away from harsh windy conditions to avoid the leaves suffering from windburn. They appear to be quite tough however.
It is sending out masses of buds early February this year(2008.)
I prune ours when the leaves have dropped in autumn as they can put on a lot of growth in one season, although I have also done some light pruning during the summer as well just to keep a good shape to the plant. It is now almost 8 feet tall after 4 years, and I will need to keep its height in check by cutting out some of the top growth as well.