Guelder rose

Guelder rose: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Broad, loose shrub of 2–4 m with upright branches.

Leaf

Opposite, 3–5-lobed, coarsely toothed, 5–10 cm; small glands on the leaf stalk. Red autumn colour.

Bark

Greyish-brown and smooth.

Flower

Flat heads of small fertile flowers, ringed by large white outer flowers (May–June).

Fruit

Glossy red, translucent berries in clusters; poisonous raw.

Difference from field maple

Field maple is a small tree with milky sap and winged fruits.

Flowering: May–June · Pruning: June–July

Identify by feature: Palmate leaves · Red autumn colour · Red berries

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Field maple Acer campestre: a small tree with milky sap and winged fruits. Difference from field maple

Why grow it?

• White flower heads in May–June, red berries and red leaves in autumn.
• Native: flowers for insects, berries for birds in winter.
• One of the few shrubs that like wet soil.
• Fits into a mixed hedge, a hedgerow or the edge of a pond.

Guelder rose: where does it grow best?

• Sun or partial shade; in sun it flowers best and bears the most berries.
• Moist to wet soil, acid or chalky: ideal by a pond, a ditch or in a damp spot in the garden.
• On dry, sandy soil it does less well; mulch the soil there and water in dry summers.
• Allow 3 m width.

Light

Sun or partial shade

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Moist to wet

Size

4 m tall, 3 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Alder: Together by a pond or ditch: two native species that like wet feet.
• Common dogwood: Red twigs in winter next to the red berries, in the same damp, mixed hedge.
• Elder: Flowers at the same time with creamy flower heads; together a bird-rich edge.
• Grey willow: A native willow for the same wet spot, with catkins for early bees.

Good and bad companions

Goes well with

• Together a mixed native hedge, good for birds and insects: hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, dog rose, common dogwood, wild privet, field maple, hornbeam
• Suits the woodland edge or the light shade of: ginkgo, box elder, ash, honey locust, field maple, silver maple

Guelder rose: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant from November to March, bare-root or root-balled.
2. In a mixed hedge: one plant every 1–1.5 m, together with other native shrubs.
3. Plant at the same depth as before, firm the soil and water generously.
4. After planting, shorten the branches by a third for a bushier shrub.

Care

Watering

In the first year and in dry summers; it likes moist soil.

Feeding

Not needed; a layer of leaves or compost in autumn is enough.

Mulch

A layer of leaves or wood chips keeps the soil moist.

Berries

Leave them for the birds; they often last into winter.

Tip: If you mainly want flowers, choose the snowball bush (‘Roseum’): round white flower heads, but no berries. For birds and insects the wild form is better.

Guelder rose: when to prune it?

Pruning months: June–July.

When: After flowering (June–July).

How:

• Thin out old branches at the base; don’t cut everything back, or there will be no berries.
• Every few years, remove one or two of the oldest branches so that young shoots can come through.
• Cut overlong or crooked branches back to a side branch rather than simply shortening them.

Caution: June–July falls in the nesting season: check for nesting birds in the shrub before you prune.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Softwood cuttings

In June, take 10–15 cm cuttings of young, still soft shoots and root them under glass or plastic; they root readily.

Layering

Bend a low branch to the ground and cover it with soil; after a year it will have roots.

Sowing

Sow the seeds from ripe berries outdoors in autumn; they often take a year and a half to germinate.

Guelder rose: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Fully hardy.
• The red berries often last well into winter; birds only eat them once other food has run out.

Diseases and pests

• Viburnum beetle: In April–May, small yellow larvae eat the leaves down to lace; later in summer the adult beetles do the same. In autumn they lay eggs in the shoot tips: cut those tips off in winter and put them in the general waste.
• Black bean aphid: Colonies of black aphids on the shoot tips in spring, making the leaves curl. They overwinter as eggs on the shrub. Let ladybirds and tits do the work, or hose them off with water.
• Drought: On dry soil the leaves droop and the berries stay small. Water and mulch the soil.

Through the year

• January: Find shoot tips with viburnum beetle eggs and cut them off.
• April: Watch for viburnum beetle larvae and aphids.
• May: Flowering: white flower heads full of insects.
• June: Prune after flowering; check for nests first.
• July: Last pruning month; the berries start to colour.
• September: Red berries and red autumn colour.
• November: Plant bare-root shrubs.
• December: Berries for the birds in winter.

What can you use it for?

Garden and landscape

Native shrub for a damp spot or a mixed hedge.

For wildlife

Flowers for insects, berries for birds in winter.

Caution: The raw berries are mildly poisonous.

Good for wildlife

Birds

Berries, seeds or insects as food, or a place to nest.

Hoverflies

Open flowers for hoverflies; many of their larvae eat aphids.

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Ladybirds

Aphids on the plant are food for ladybirds and their larvae.

Did you know?

• The snowball bush of gardens is a form with only sterile flowers, in rounded heads.
• The large white outer flowers are sterile: they only serve to draw insects to the small fertile flowers in the centre.
• In Ukraine, guelder rose (kalyna) is a national symbol, found in songs and embroidery.
• The Dutch name ‘Gelderse roos’ refers to the province of Gelderland, where the cultivated snowball form is said to come from. The English ‘guelder rose’ points there too.
• In Ukraine the guelder rose, known as kalyna, is a national symbol that features in folk songs, embroidery and poetry.