Pruning lilacs
- Carol Wallace
- GrahamL
- CaitlinO
- Carol_Baldrey
- jp45
- Jojo
- paulacoutts
- JBD
- greenthumb3
- Steve38
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» Carol Wallace - Graham, If I sent you a shoe horn, maybe you could squeeze in on
Graham, If I sent you a shoe horn, maybe you could squeeze in one of the dwarf lilacs. ;-) It really is a shame to have to do without in the spring. Carol virtually gardening-- posted by Carol Wallace
» GrahamL - Carol, Your shoe-horn would have to be something really speci
Carol,Your shoe-horn would have to be something really special to get any more in here! Just been looking around where to plant some babies I returned with (why do I impulse buy!). I bought some Penstemons a while back, and stuck them into little corners, now of course things have grown above and over them, so I'm constantly having to cut things back just to let these plants have the light they need. Managed to plant a new rose the other day, now that was a real success, quite inspirational how I found the space!
Graham English Town Garden Editor
-- posted by GrahamL
» CaitlinO - I would like to prune my lilacs so that the plants have blossoms
I would like to prune my lilacs so that the plants have blossoms lower to the ground. The bushes (trees!) are probably ten feet high and all the blooms are at the top, making it difficult to obtain for cut flower purposes. What is the best way to deal with this? (I've been in this house for almost two years. This is the second blooming since I've lived here. I also realize I will probably have to wait until after next year's bloom since the new growth has already occurred.) Thank you for your help - I'm just a novice gardener.-- posted by CaitlinO
» Carol_Baldrey - Lilacs
I want to thank you for the valuable information on the trimming of lilacs. I have two bushes of my own and never knew that you had to trim them to make them flower. My parents have huge trees and they have not flowered in years but now I know what the problem is. Thanks again.-- posted by Carol_Baldrey
» Jojo - Hi JP
Lilacs can be taken from cuttings but it's much easier to locate a sucker coming up from around the base of the plant and dig it up. Get as many roots as you can with the sucker and transplant it to your garden.I am looking to moving to a place away from the city, and this place has lots of deer browsing everything. I've read that lilacs are not something that deer like to eat, and would like a privacy hedge from the road.
At the same time, my sister has a beautiful lilac shrub that has the most wonderful scent! I plan to take some suckers from her; luckily there are some there in waiting.
If there weren't though, there is a method to use to force suckers. Prune 1 or 2 of the largest stalks to the ground, just after flowering. That summer, suckers will arise around the plant. They can then be dug up etc... according to the method outlined above.
If you can't wait for suckers and want to try cuttings, do them in the fall. I find hardwood cuttings of lilac easier than softwood cuttings in the spring and summer.
What you do is you take the end of a stem about 6 inches long, give it a good cut with a sharp knife, dip it in #3 rooting powder (for hardwood cuttings) and stick it in a pot with 1/2 normal soil, 1/2 sand or crushed pumice. A 1 gallon pot would probably best. Take two or 3 because they will not all take. By spring they should be rooted and leafing out.
Softwood cuttings require a little bottom heat, constant moisture and a humid atmosphere. It's difficult for most people to attain this so I would recommend you stay away from this method - it's just too difficult to pull off in most circumstance.
-- posted by Jojo
» paulacoutts - lilacs not flowering
I have a 3year old lilac bush in my garden that has never successfully bloomed. I am a seasoned gardener and I have never come across this problem before. The first 2 years we received a late frost which seemed to burn the new blooms and tender foliage, this year the bush has doubled in size but not a single bloom! Has anyone experienced this before or any advise on what to do? Any advice would be greatly appreciated to help get this beautiful shrb flowering again.PCoutts
-- posted by paulacoutts
» JBD - Lilacs
A few days ago our neighbor had someone cut our mature lilacs (about 10 feet tall) down to 3 feet. Since this was obviously late in the season for "pruning", I am wondering if (1) the lilacs will come back at all (2) how long will it take for them to be 10 feet tall again (3) this is probably a "no", but will they bloom next year?Any insight is greatly appreciated.
-- posted by JBD
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