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Backyard Elderberry Orchards

Making It Grow Minute
SC Public Radio

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Blueberries, figs,  and muscadines are plants good for  backyard orchard s–   you don’t have to do much as far as insect or disease control goes. Elderberry is another plant you might add to your backyard if you have some room. In other parts of the country, there are lots of both commercial and home orchards of elderberry but for some reason we haven’t used them much in the south. But Dr. Greg Reigard, one of Clemson’s top fruit researchers, has some planted at the Musser Farm and they are doing just fine. There are lots of nurseries that offer improved varieties of elderberries that tend to ripen at the same time and some have slightly larger berries. You should choose more than one variety; however, you’ll get better fruit set if plants with different genetic backgrounds provide pollen for each other.

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Amanda McNulty is a Clemson University Extension Horticulture agent and the host of South Carolina ETV’s Making It Grow! gardening program. She studied horticulture at Clemson University as a non-traditional student. “I’m so fortunate that my early attempts at getting a degree got side tracked as I’m a lot better at getting dirty in the garden than practicing diplomacy!” McNulty also studied at South Carolina State University and earned a graduate degree in teaching there.