Very common in gardens and fallow land, elder, although often disliked, is very useful to gardeners.
Elder is a small pioneering bush with deciduous foliage and highly melliferous white spring flowering. In summer it bears edible berries that birds adore.
Once much prized, elder can be used for its flowers for medicinal purposes, its berries that make delicious jams and finally, for its leaves useful in the vegetable patch, in the orchard and in the ornamental garden.
Elder leaves can be used in various preparations. Here, we will focus on elder manure.
Sambucus nigra
What is elder manure?
First, what is a plant manure? It is the maceration of plant material in water for several days, generally for 2 weeks.
The advantage of manure compared with other preparations – infusion or decoction – is that it keeps for a long time, for several months. Moreover, elder being very common, raw material is easy to find.
Fresh elder leaves have a very strong smell, somewhat unpleasant to some. Once macerated, they produce a smelly fermented mixture that has, among other things, repellent properties against various pests: moles, wood mice, voles, aphids, caterpillars...
When to make elder manure?
You can make this manure from spring to autumn, as long as the bush has leaves.
How to make elder manure?
You will need :
- 1 kg fresh elder leaves
- 10 l water
- A plastic container with a lid
Prefer rainwater. If you do not have any, use tap water but leave it for a few hours in the open air before making the manure. Chlorine evaporation will allow better fermentation.
Avoid using a metal bucket to make the manure. There is a risk of metal oxidation during fermentation.
Steps :
- Chop or cut leaves and green stems into small pieces. The smaller the pieces, the better the fermentation;
- Pour the 10 l of rainwater over them in the plastic container;
- Close the container with the lid and place it in the shade, so temperature does not rise too much;
- Stir the mixture every day for about ten days, even up to 15 days.
After one or two days, bubbles should appear. This is sign that fermentation has started. When there are no more bubbles, the manure is ready.
- Filter and pour into an opaque plastic container sealed airtight to store your preparation in good conditions so it keeps its properties.
After filtration, store your elder manure in a container kept away from light.
Keep the container in a shaded place so it is not exposed to high temperatures.
Properties
Elder manure has the advantage of being usable both preventively and curatively. It is used diluted or pure according to desired effect.
Elder manure is mainly known for its repellent action, thanks to its powerful odour, against several garden pests, notably moles and voles. These small animals can cause significant damage. If that is the case in your garden, prefer this natural solution to chemical remedies; it will deter, without killing, rodents and moles.
The malodorous nature of the preparation would also give it an insect-repellent role, that is to say helping to keep insects away, in particular flea beetles, aphids and caterpillars. It will not kill them either. Here, the manure can be used either preventively, to stop unwanted insects arriving, or curatively, to make them go.
Moreover, and importantly, elder manure could be of great help in fighting fungal diseases, that is to say those caused by fungi. In the garden, this means using the manure can act at the appearance of downy mildew, powdery mildew or rust, which are the most frequent attacks.
Finally, this manure could also have a stimulating effect on plant growth, because it is very rich in nitrogen.
Use as repellent
Elder manure as a repellent for moles and small rodents is mainly used to deter moles and small rodents such as voles and wood mice that sometimes ravage crops.
Always act in dry weather. After rain, the manure loses all its effectiveness. The operation must then be repeated.
Locate molehills then remove earth from the mound to free the tunnel exit hole. Then pour the manure. The mole should avoid that section of tunnel in future.
For voles and wood mice, you can proceed in the same way, but it may be more difficult to find tunnel entrances. Water then your root vegetables, particularly sensitive to these pests, with diluted manure (1 l per 10 l water) to deter them as much as possible.
Left, a vole and right, a wood mouse
Use as insect repellent
To keep insects away, the strong smell of elder manure is an advantage.
When diluted, i.e. 1 l manure per 10 litres water, you obtain a preventive effect. Spray on plants most susceptible to insect attacks. In particular, those that fear aphids, flea beetles and caterpillars.
If these pests are already present, then use the preparation pure for a curative effect. It should be sprayed weekly.
Whether preventive or curative, remember to spray only in dry weather.
Use as fungicidal treatment
Among elder components, there is an alkaloid – sambucine – with antifungal properties. As a result, the manure could be used against downy mildew, powdery mildew and rust, for example, which are the best-known fungal diseases.
As prevention, spray a dilution of the manure on the leaves. That is 100 ml manure per 1 l water. Curatively, you can spray, as a fine mist, undiluted manure on affected leaves.
Dilute your elder manure with water so you can spray it
Use as fertiliser
To stimulate plant growth, different types of fertiliser can be used. Elder manure, thanks to its richness in nitrogen, will particularly boost leaf growth.
For this use, use manure diluted. That means you will mix 1 l manure with 10 l water. Then use the mixture to water plants that look weak. In the vegetable patch, it is useful for leafy vegetables.
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