Tips on propagating Lilacs?

[Stephanie]

I have an old lilac tree that is going to have to be cut down because it's damaging the house (whoever planted the tree planted it smack up against the house probably assuming it would remain a small to medium sized shrub). I hate cutting down trees and I have a particularly strong attachment to this one, so I'm going to try to propagate it. I know enough about gardening to know how to detach the suckers and use rooting compound, but beyond that, I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants. I'm not sure if there are different types of rooting compound (the one I have is for roses) or if it's a one size fits all deal. Also, what about proper temperature and light? AFAIK, lilacs tend to like cool weather, but is it different while rooting?

Any suggestions are more than appreciated. :nosey:

[justgreen]

I read somewhere that you should take a shovel and separate a sucker from the mother and don't pull it out of the ground until Fall. That way , it has a chance to get a few roots going.

[Stephanie]

Okay, well, I cut some suckers off yesterday and while I didn't leave them in the ground (there weren't any coming out of the ground - only off the tree), I did dip them in rooting compound and plant them in pots with some gorgeous compost. We'll see if I can get the watering down. Right now, they're a bit wilted and I'm concerned. Holding my breath...will update later.

[dancingbarefoot]

Jeff Lowenfels, Alaska gardener extraordinaire, says this:

http://icangarden.com/images/gifs/1pt.gifPut your pruned branches into a bucket of warm water and keep them in a very cool or even unheated garage for a few days. Then bring them indoors and into the light. In three weeks you should get leaves and blooms soon thereafter.

But I've never tried it myself.

[Stephanie]

That makes sense. I'll cut some more and try that, too. Thanks! :happy:

[dancingbarefoot]

Good luck! Our lilacs have never done very well. Moose munch on 'em too much.

[Dulci]

I've never had lilacs, and I've never had very much luck with propagating cuttings, but I looked up Lilacs in an old garden book of mine. It says if the shrub is way overgrown that you can cut it down to stumps directly after they bloom, then feed and water the heck out of it, it will come back from the roots. Then you can keep it smaller with judicious pruning. I've done this before with japanese holly hedges, and waxleaf privet, it worked beautifully (after a couple of weeks of looking very ugly).

Thought that might be an option for you if you don't want to lose it.

[Stephanie]

Oooh! You know...I think that sounds like a great idea. It's worth a shot, anyway. Thank you, Dulci! :) Is it too much to wish for my cuttings to root as well as a stump to grow? :lafhard:

[LisaJaney]

I don't know if this applies to lilacs, but some woody ornamentals only bloom on last-year's growth. That means that you'd need to make concession for one year's growth and THEN some for the blooms to come. Cannot recall if Lilacs are a "bloom on the new growth" deal or a "last year's growth" deal...

I could try to call Ken, Connie, Jay or Karen if you want (I used to work in a gardening shop, back when Gussy was a baby; those folks would know the answer to all your questions - and the new-growth stuff - SO quickly it'd make our heads spin. They're wonderful. I think they're all master-gardeners, actually...

Let me know if you want me to call 'em; it wouldn't take long at all.

[Stephanie]

Lisa, I don't want you to go out of your way for me, but if you happen to come across any information, I'd be forever thankful as it would mean taking lilacs with me wherever I go. :)

Thank you very much for the offer. :D

[LisaJaney]

That store is closing in just two minutes; I can call them tomorrow. Jay and the rest are phenomenal with all-things-green. I'll get back to you!

[Stephanie]

THANK YOU! :soppy: I do appreciate it, Lisa. :grinhappy:

[LisaJaney]

OK, Steph, just got off the phone with Rick (don't know him, but what he said sounded SO familiar to what was in the back of my mind)

He said:
Lilacs set their next-spring's blossoms right after they bloom this year. That means that if I prune the living crap out of my lilacs this summer, next Spring I'm not going to get any blooms, because I cut off all the impending blooms. (did I say that well-enough to make sense?)

He said you have several options (I told him your lilac bush was "not a newbie; it was probably 5 or 6 years old anyways", becuase I simply did not know how old it was and figured that'd be a good guess for a mature bush). One thing you could do is to cut it ALL back to 2' tall in the late fall, dig that puppy up and just MOVE it. You can even divide the root-ball and get several bushes out of it.

Or you could hack it back to WAY-short (nearly to the ground, he made it sound, but I'd be afraid to do that much cutting; I'd go 2' tall. I'm a chicken) and then it can grow next spring and you just KEEP it short from then on out (you won't get a single blossom the coming spring, you remember).

The other thing you can do NOW is to prune it on the house-side, so that it's not rubbing. Let the stuff that's away from the house go ahead and bloom nicely this year, just get the rubbing-stuff off the house. Then, late this fall (late fall and EARLY spring are the times to be moving lilacs. We've missed Early Spring for this year, sorry) you could hack 'er back and move it.

OK, that's all I know! He was a nice man. He answered the phone with "Thank you for calling Northwest, this is Rick." I said "Hello, Rick! I am needing to talk to someone who really knows lilacs?" He said, "This is Rick!" I said, "Oh my! I didn't realize I would get to the proper department first-off! This is great!"

If you want me to call again for more specific info, I would be glad to do that. He said he was glad to help, too.

Hugs and happy lilac-hacking!
Lisa

[Carolyn]

I've never tried rooting lilac cuttings. What I've had very good success with it just going out and digging up a bunch of the little short shoots that always are springing up next to the large mother bush. I just dig way down so I get some rootage with the stalks. Dig another hole and plant them. I might add some enrichment to the soil like to peat moss. Then just water like crazy. Mine have usually taken a couple years to bloom after starting a new bush. It could be the soil here is good for lilacs. They are everywhere.

[darkwaves]

Lilacs grow like weeds where I live -- rows of them are one way to identify long abandoned farms. (They were used as shelterbelts around the buildings.)

We have several in our backyard, including one that's far above the second storey window, so I'm interested in how much you can cut them back and still have them survive.

The U of Manitoba (http://www.umanitoba.ca/afs/Plant_Science/courses/39_079/woodyplantsnotes/woody_plantsr_s.html) says:Syringa vulgaris (Common lilac)
Culture. Can propagate by softwood cuttings.
And Agriculture Canada's PFRA (http://www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/shelterbelt/faqs2_e.htm) says:Q. My caragana/lilac row is getting tall, spindly and has a lot of dead branches. Can I prune the hedge to the ground and what time should I do it?
A. Yes. Pruning of unruly older shelterbelts like caragana and lilac is recommended. Most shrubs can be successfully pruned to the ground with a chain saw during the dormant season. This is a severe form of pruning and it should only be done when the shrubs are dormant (no growth or leaves). Severe pruning (> 30% of the tree mass) during the growing season is not recommended - at this time the trees are actively growing, and severe pruning will put excessive stress on the tree and may lead to serious disease and insect problems or even death.
When pruning, it is recommended that the cut be made as close to the ground as possible, otherwise, if it is cut any higher, the shrub will continue growth from the height where the cut was made and may end up with a "witches broom" effect. By cutting close to the ground, the row will regenerate right from the base with new shoots and will look much neater and more uniform. Since the plants in this row have a large, well-established root system, they will regenerate quickly and may put on 1 to 1.5 metres growth in one season.
Wow. Gardening by chain saw. I'm not sure I'll have the nerve! Also, there seem to be several different kinds, so you might want to confirm that first. (I suspect mine are the chain saw variety.)

[LisaJaney]

We're getting a chainsaw for Dave for father's day; I think I'll use it late this fall to prune a couple back to the soil and see what happens (meaning: how long it takes to grow back and bloom.) If I can get my act together (highly debatable) I will take pics to compare.

Do you suppose it would work on an ancient "snowball tree"?

[teela1978]

My last and current apartments had/have lilacs out front, and my old landlady would just pull the suckers out of the ground and shove them in some dirt a little down the way. Only about half lived, but I drove by the other day and they seem to be doing pretty well :)

My current place has two in an arch over the pathway to my door (really cool in the spring) so trimming the big bush away from the house and sorta encouraging it to grow the other way might work pretty well (someone must've trained these monsters into the arch at some point in time).

Good luck!!!!!

[Stephanie]

Holy crap! Great info - wow!

Well, just for the record, the tree is 40 years old. :happy: I'm surprised it's not larger, actually.

I just took some pictures for you guys to get a better idea. I'll take more once it's blooming. :soppy: Now that I look at it, it does look like a huge bush with a stem. :lafhard: And please excuse my mess of gardening tools.

http://www.thebeautybottle.com/steph/Spring_Lilac.jpg

Here's a close up of the damage so far. We strapped it to the house for support in hopes that it would straighten out just a hair, but this guy's got a mind of his own. :lol: The tree takes priority over the house. :lafhard:

http://www.thebeautybottle.com/steph/Lilac_Damage.jpg

I can't wait for it to bloom. :soppy:

ETA: In the last picture, you can see the curve of the branches. Anyone walking up to our front door has to duck under the branch.

[LisaJaney]

Holy Toledo, Steph, that's a TREE, not a bush. Another idea I have is what we called "air layering".

Find a non-barked branch of the thing (youngish) and then cut upwards at an angle, to about the halfway point (meaning, cut about halfway through the branch). Now continue the cut, running right up the center of the branch, for about an inch or two. You're going to be basically making a raw spot for roots to form, but leaving HALF the branch still-attached to the mother-plant so it still gets nutrients from the mother. Put Root-tone on the cut and stick a toothpick into the cut, wedging it open. Now, surround this area with plastic that has dampened peatmoss in it. Secure it relatively-well. You want it to maintain its moisture, but not to be so wet (and unbreathable) that it ROTS.

Hopefully, in several weeks, you'll have roots and you can then cut beLOW the air-layering spot and plant that portion elsewhere.

Hope that made sense; it's a difficult word-picture to paint.

[dancingbarefoot]

That's the biggest lilac I've ever seen (they don't grow that big up here in Anchorage)!

Can it even be uprooted without damaging the foundation?