Sambucus nigra 'Eiffel 1'

Summary

UC Davis is located in Davis, California, this site has a silty clay loam soil and plants are irrigated with potable water. More information about the field sites is located in the Nuts & Bolts section.

This is a striking, columnar form of elderberry with very dark foliage. Although it bloomed in May, this was not a main feature of the plant in our trials. Irrigation treatments had no significant effect on performance of this plant; plants irrigated only twice all summer performed as well as those on the most frequent treatment (Table 16). There were also no significant differences in growth between treatments. All plants were cut down low to buds in early March, beginning the growing season around 1 foot high and attaining an average height of 65.8” (167.2cm) and average width of 47.2” (120cm). This is the recommended maintenance practice for this plant to rejuvenate dense leaf growth and prevent a straggly habit from developing. By September, all treatments’ foliage showed lacewing damage and edge burn, especially on lower leaves, causing appearance to decline below acceptable levels. This might be tolerable at the back of a mixed perennial border, but was unattractive at close range.