poor sambucus growth

This is a very strong growing plant and should have grown massive amounts each season - by that i mean several feet each growing season/year.
Pruning it 'does' make it bushy but it sounds like there's something making yours suffer, for it to be so stunted.
What type of position and soil is it in ?
Can you show us a picture of it please ?

I'll take a pic and post and er..find out what the soil is (not a real gardener obviously!) It's in a fairly sheltered spot in a sheltered back garden..will get back..

Aplogies if I'm threadbutting......I'll be interested in these answers too...as I have an identical problem, although mine is one year old. I did think it should have put on much more growth last year. Mine is in a pot ...problem perhaps?

Izzy, constricting its growth in a pot will have a big impact on it, in its natural state - in the open ground it would be allowed to flourish and 'then' you'd see it in all its glory !
This plant wants to get big - very big !!!

Have updated my question with pic (above?)

Hmmm !
It looks quite dry and hot in that spot, so i originally thought it was suffering from drought but .... mine are also in thin, poor soil that dries out very very quickly - yet it grows like wildfire.

I'm wondering now it its roots are constricted.
If a plant is put into the ground without its roots being 'teased' out of their pot shape, its roots will just circle around themselves and, it won't grow much and most likely die off.
Maybe 'this' is the problem.

If you think it 'could' be this, i'd try and dig it up, tease and move the roots about (a lot) and then plant it again - into a big hole, with lots of manure in, and it just might rekindle the life that's in the roots.

If you did none of the above ..... just prune it back hard, to maybe 12" from the ground. This could also kick start it !

I'm thinking that too, so might do all the proffered tips!

Let us know its progress !

Thank you, Louise! I cut it back...hard ...today to 6" from the top of the compost. I think perhaps I will re-pot it..I was trying to keep some shrubs in pots as we want to move but don't know when so I was reluctant to put everything into the soil!

Have you ever taken hardwood cuttings from this shrub? I cannot rememebr if I teased out the roots or not...it was a very young shrub. Perhaps I'll do that too. It should be in ericaceous compost, I believe...do you do so?

No i don't, i have mine in alkaline soil !!!
I don't think they're fussy about soil types though ..... where's Bamboo, she'll know, Doctorbob's around too, i think, he will awell !