This is my first post so be kind to me
Lilacs: Where? How? When?
I love Lilacs but am very new to gardening and have been told they are very difficult to grow/flower
This is my first post so be kind to me
This is my first post so be kind to me
Hi Jess, sorry for late replyJess wrote:Hi arniesmum
Lilacs are really easy to grow!
Whereabouts are you and what zone? Do you have a particular area of your garden you want to grow it in?
I live in East Hertfordshire and wanted to plant it next to my Callistemon (sounds like I know what I am talking about there ), in the summer it gets sun 3/4 of the day. My soil type is clay and as I am limited as to what I can do due to physical reasons I have great success with roses, hebes, a lovely red robin, red hot poker's and a budleja.Is it expensive to obtain an established lilac? Any help and advice you could offer would be great thanks
Oh good a Brit. That makes it easier!
They are completely hardy here so that is no problem. Your soil will be fine as long as you (or someone who can help you) add some compost to the planting hole to give it a good start. Clay is very nutritious but it does not like to give it up so the addition of any kind of humus that will break it down a bit will make it easier for the roots to grow and easier for the plants to get hold of the nutrients in it.
If you do not have a compost heap buy yourself a bag of composted manure not a multipurpose as that is not so good in your clay soil.
Do you have a particular colour in mind? How large an area do you want it to cover as some of them sucker quite a bit so are not good for a confined space (in a border for instance) There is a small more compact lilac called meyeri 'Palibin'. My favourite of all the lilacs. It flowers when young so you do not have to buy a large plant. It does not sucker and it only reaches about 5ft. It produces lovely dusky pink panicles that are strongly scented...What more could you want?!
Here is a link to read about it...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/897.shtml to see what you think
and here is another link just to look at a lovely picture of it. https://www.millernursery.com/plantPages/shrub/syringaMeyeriPalabin.htm
That makes it easier!They are completely hardy here so that is no problem. Your soil will be fine as long as you (or someone who can help you) add some compost to the planting hole to give it a good start. Clay is very nutritious but it does not like to give it up so the addition of any kind of humus that will break it down a bit will make it easier for the roots to grow and easier for the plants to get hold of the nutrients in it.
If you do not have a compost heap buy yourself a bag of composted manure not a multipurpose as that is not so good in your clay soil.
Do you have a particular colour in mind? How large an area do you want it to cover as some of them sucker quite a bit so are not good for a confined space (in a border for instance) There is a small more compact lilac called meyeri 'Palibin'. My favourite of all the lilacs. It flowers when young so you do not have to buy a large plant. It does not sucker and it only reaches about 5ft. It produces lovely dusky pink panicles that are strongly scented...What more could you want?!
Here is a link to read about it...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/897.shtml to see what you think
and here is another link just to look at a lovely picture of it.
https://www.millernursery.com/plantPages/shrub/syringaMeyeriPalabin.htmHi Jess,
Thanks so much for the info, the dwarf Korean Lilac looks lovely. I am not limited as per space as I am lucky enough to have a largish if unusual shaped garden. Anything growing up to 5ft is fine in fact the bushier the better.
Hope you didnt sustain too much damage during the high winds a few nights ago. I lost a few bits and bobs myself. At least it didn't kick in until after Crufts as I walk and train dogs for a living and really needed to be there.
My only physical problem right now is that I broke my collar bone last may and have not sufficiently recovered to dig over etc.
Great to see you are from England
Attached a pic of my pride and joy
[img]https://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb91/accidentalgardener/PAULAS%20DIARY/arniebytheriver.jpg[/img]
Thanks so much for the info, the dwarf Korean Lilac looks lovely. I am not limited as per space as I am lucky enough to have a largish if unusual shaped garden. Anything growing up to 5ft is fine in fact the bushier the better.
Hope you didnt sustain too much damage during the high winds a few nights ago. I lost a few bits and bobs myself. At least it didn't kick in until after Crufts as I walk and train dogs for a living and really needed to be there.
My only physical problem right now is that I broke my collar bone last may and have not sufficiently recovered to dig over etc.
Great to see you are from England
Attached a pic of my pride and joy
[img]https://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb91/accidentalgardener/PAULAS%20DIARY/arniebytheriver.jpg[/img]
You are welcome
We did get some of the bad weather but nowhere near as bad as they said it would be. My rickety old fence that has been bodged more times than I care to mention has been left at a jaunty angle but that was it for damage.
Walking and training dogs must keep you pretty fit but can't be easy with a broken collar bone...Ouch!
Your pride and joy certainly looks in fine condition!
We did get some of the bad weather but nowhere near as bad as they said it would be. My rickety old fence that has been bodged more times than I care to mention has been left at a jaunty angle but that was it for damage.
Walking and training dogs must keep you pretty fit but can't be easy with a broken collar bone...Ouch!
Your pride and joy certainly looks in fine condition!