Lilac...suckers or seedlings

lostinrates

hostie wrote: »

What are suckers?

I have two huge lilacs in my garden. I absolutely love them and would love to know how to generate more from them.

I´m a total novice so don´t know how to take cuttings or propagate. Is there something underneath them I should look for?

I'm not sure whether mine are seedlings or suckers...but lilacs do sucker proliically I understand. suckers are a shoot that sprouts up from the roots.....a ''new'' plant growing from the roots of the parent plant.

Underneath your lilacs you might see now...mine are like twigs with the same type of bud the ''grown ups'' are covered in on the tip of the twig. Good luck!

sirbrainy

Another tip with lilacs is be sure to deadhead them as soon as they have flowered, otherwise they divert a lot of energy into producing seeds instead of new growth & next year's flowers.

I use a hedgecutter to speed up the process (we have a LOT of lilacs lol) and they are perfectly happy with this rough treatment. [I cut the forsythia at the same time in Spring which really improves next year's flowers.]

We have got one big hedge of lilacs about 3m high or more and I leave this alone, with the result that we generally get one good year for flowers followed by a poorer year from them. Whereas the properly deadheaded lilacs flower reliably and well every year.

DaftyDuck

Lilac suckers may or may not be true to the main plant. Some of them are grafted onto vigorous but less showy rootstock. If it works, great; you have a headstart with a well-rooted plant. However, you may find that, a couple of years down the road, your hope for a matching plant are lost - a problem if you've replaced the original.
Cuttings will always breed true, and Lilac is tough enough to make cuttings much of the year - you can do it now. Just cut off six inch to one foot branches, stick them in reasonably damp shady soil, and wait. Rooting hormone may help, but isn't necessary.
Obviously, if your suckers ARE breeding true, this isn't necessary, but remember there's no guarantee they will flower the same as the original plant!

sirbrainy

That has to be true, so I'm assuming that all my lilacs are on their own rootstock as suckers have always been true.

Does anybody know how common it is for lilacs to be grafted onto more vigorous rootstock?

DaftyDuck

sirbrainy

It's quite common amongst the more exotic and colourful specimens that you get from "posh" garden centres. However, they're more likely to be the ones that die out , I suspect! I've got quite a few lilac trees in my garden, and most are 15 or more years old, or have shot from older rootstock - and they seem to grow true from suckers. I guess that, if they ever were "posh" grafts, the grafted tops have long gone, leaving the tough hoi polloi rootstock to grow.

hostie

I tried to get the lilac suckers out today (am a bit behind everyone else, the snowdrops are only just in full bloom) but they seem to be stuck to a big branch. I couldn´t manage to dig them out with a spade due to the big thick branch and when I pulled them they came up without roots.

Any ideas?

I did take cuttings as well. I cut random lengths from one of the bushes plonked them in the ground. Am just a bit worried that they won´t take. I do have rooting powder but cant get the tub open!

sirbrainy

Use a screwdriver to prise it open?

The lilacs - I guess my suckers get quite a long time to develop roots as most of the time we just leave them as they are and only collect new lilacs periodically, always trying to get quite big ones. By that time they have their own root system. Maybe a couple of years old since first suckering.

hostie

There are loads of them of all different sizes. To be fair most are at least 20cm long so maybe I did wait too late or maybe they are a few years old. I did manage to get one out with roots.

I was quite surprised to discover that the two bushes look totally different. The one that just has large droopy branches of purple scented flowers didn´t appear to have any suckers. The other one had straight branches with buds on the end. It is intertwined with a white flowering tree thing so maybe the suckers are from the white thing and not the lilac.

sirbrainy

Mine are typically already 60-80cm high, I usually leave anything smaller until later.

lostinrates

Sir Brainy, I just wanted to say thank you again for the advice here. I have today with great reservation, started pruning my old lilacs, it feels like a terrible crime, but hoping that by doing it early we'll get good flowers next year, and that by having started now to invigorate them when it coes time to move them in a few years they are stronger and healthier.

Its a heartbreaking job, but once in there you see the dead wood and the rubbing branches. I've not done as much as a third, I will have another go, but I' finding it hard to be ruthless. I have never pruned a lilac....ours have just been big trees left till something goes wrong/in the way and that bit removed. I'm sure next year, when I see a boost, I'll feel braver: I have no problem being ruthless to roses now!

edit: only problem is a lot of the ''base'' of on of the old girls looks very dead and dry. Very few good bits coming out of it now I look into its bottom.