Devon,
United Kingdom 
My sambuca Nigra is in a pot and was flourishing and grew from about 18 inches tall to 5 foot in 3 months. Unfortunately, it has started to wither and appears to be on its last legs having lost most of its leaves and some branches although there is still life.From reading here it appears that we haven't watered it enough and have watered fully today. Can you please let me know if these plants recover from this and how do I prune it? I am a total novice - obiously - and am terrified to get it wrong again.
4 Sep, 2010
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This is one of those plants which can be stooled down to the ground, virtually, in Spring, if you want to, or cut back hard in spring and then again in early July. This is a large plant in the garden if left to its own devices, forming a tree in no time, so in a pot, you need to make sure you keep it small, otherwise you won't be able to keep up with the watering because of the proliferation of roots - and it will always get to the point where the pot's just not big enough without hard pruning or stooling. You can cut a little off now if you want to, but not too much at this time of year. Keep it well watered in the meantime.
4 Sep, 2010