Lilac Bushes
Guidelines on Caring for Lilac Bushes
There can be few greater pleasures in life than the sweet, light perfume of blooming lilac bushes in the spring. It is well worth the time to plant and care for these beautiful and aromatic shrubs to enjoy them each spring.
Many different cultivars of lilacs are available for the admiring gardener to choose from in a variety of colors. Once the lilac bushes of choice have been selected, a few guidelines on caring for lilac bushes is all that will be needed to fill your yard with the wonderful scents of petite flowers.
Regardless of which of the many varieties of lilac bushes you choose, you will need to make sure it is placed in an area in your yard that receives at least 8 hours of sunlight for the best blooming results. The soil should be well-drained, and can be just about any type although a rich soil low in nitrogen and neutral Ph balance is best. Young lilac bushes are best transplanted in the springtime, as it provides adequate time through the summer for the plant to strengthen.
Caring for lilac bushes that are already mature is necessary to maintain strong new growth and continued blooming. Different varieties of lilacs will bloom at various times during the spring, but always for just a few precious weeks. A few varieties will even bloom during the summer. During bloom, prune back spent blossoms as they die away. This will prevent the shrub from producing seeds, causing a slow down in growth. When the bloom season has past and all flowers have faded, the entire bush should be pruned back immediately to encourage new growth. Since lilac bushes begin forming new buds for next spring’s flowers at this time, it is crucial to prune as soon as the flowers die back.
Lilac bushes are spring bloomers. The best way to prolong your enjoyment of the blooms is to plant a variety of bushes; early bloomers, mid-season bloomers and late bloomers. In doing so, you will find the intoxicating scent of lilacs filling your yard for up to six weeks.
If springtime arrives and you find to your disappointment that your lilac bushes are not blooming, there are a few things you need to check. If the bush was newly planted last spring, it may not bloom until its second spring. If you pruned the bush in summer or fall, chances are you also pruned off the flowers that would have bloomed in the spring. It is essential to prune as soon as the lilac bushes stop flowering. The soil may be the issue; if the Ph balance is off it will affect blooming.
Lilac bushes are very easy to care for and maintain. The little bit of effort put into them through the year will be rewarded ten fold in the spring when the first blooms open, sending forth those sweet fragrances for which they are so well known.