Elderberries as Hedgerows

Tim Hammerich

News Reporter

Hedgerows can offer farmers a way to utilize non-crop areas for benefits of beneficial insects, wildlife restoration, runoff prevention, and maybe even, revenue. That’s according to UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program Deputy Director, Sonja Brodt, who studied the use of elderberries as hedgerows.

Brodt… “We thought, well, why don't we take this native plant that's really well adapted already? It's quite drought tolerant once established, and it's very good for a wildlife. And why don't we see what we can do with taking that and putting it in hedge rows?”

Brodt says the results indicate that elderberry hedgerows could pay for themselves rather quickly.

Brodt… “What we saw was that certainly on this one farm in a multi-species native hedge row with a whole row of elderberries planted plus other species alongside it. We found that they were able to basically earn enough money through harvesting the berries in the second year that they could pretty much offset the cost of the whole hedgerow planting by only the second year. Going forward, those plants are expected to get much bigger and produce even more berries. And so once you've paid off the hedgerow, you know, you're getting that revenue directly.”

For more information, visit the UCANR website.