HollyBLane
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jun 11, 2015 2:38 pm

Lilacs and heavy rain

My white lilac bloomed beautifully this year. It is only about 3 years old. But now the leaves are turning brown. We had very heavy rains this year and water in places where we never had water before. The lilac was never 'standing' in water during these rains.

I am wondering if this is the problem?

I went out last evening and dug it up and moved it to a little higher ground. Where I live is flat flat flat!!! The soil was damp but not soggy as I expected. The roots looked good yet.
I am wondering if anyone thinks I can save this bush. I did have pine bark mulch around it, but not next to the trunk. When I replanted, I didn't put any mulch around it. We don't have acid soil where I live (the old zone 5 in MO) . The soil was once were I had garden, so was nice all around soil.
Any advice?

luis_pr
Greener Thumb
Posts: 824
Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2009 8:31 am
Location: Hurst, TX USA Zone 7b/8a

Can you post pictures of the leaf damage progression to see if it clicks on someone? Browning can be a problem caused by lot of issues: lilacs do not tolerate soggy conditions and while the soil was not soggy when you moved it, it may have been too soggy before you moved it; while your lilac is not planted in acidic soil, can you do a soil pH test to make sure that it is not in soil that is too alkaline (this can tie up nutrients and cause browning when too alkaline); if you already know that your soil is low in magnesium, you could try providing them with some and see if it stops the browning; if the leaves remain attached to the stems/branches, consider lilac bacterial blight as the cause.

https://extension.psu.edu/pests/plant-di ... c-diseases



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