Lilac (Syringa vulgaris) can be found in many German gardens. The shrub or small tree impresses every year with a wonderful, fragrant flower, which can only develop in full splendor in suitable soil.
What soil does lilac need and how can I adapt it?
Lilac prefers dry, well-drained and calcareous soil. To adapt the garden soil for lilacs, heavy soils can be loosened with sand and compost, acidic soils can be deacidified with lime and wet soils can be drained using drainage.
Calcareous, dry soil is perfect
Basically, lilac is considered very adaptable, but this adaptability has limits. The following are particularly unsuitable for planting:
- wet
- condensed
- and sour
Floors. Lilacs thrive best on a dry, well-drained and calcareous subsoil, although specific preferences vary depending on the species and variety. Preston lilac, for example, prefers soil that is poor in lime but rich in nutrients, while the wild forms and many Syringa vulgaris hybrids make do with lime-rich, rather poor soil. So when choosing a lilac variety, always pay attention to what soil it needs - and what it actually is like in your garden.
Improve the soil – you have these options
Now you don't necessarily have to have the perfect garden soil to be able to successfully cultivate lilacs on it: to a certain extent, an unsuitable subsoil can be significantly improved with little effort:
- Heavy soil: You can improve heavy soil, possibly with a high clay content, by deep loosening and adding sand and compost. Since such floors tend to become waterlogged, it is also recommended to install drainage.
- Acidic soils: are often found on railings where coniferous trees and ericaceous plants such as rhododendrons have been cultivated. Here it is important to deacidify the soil by thoroughly loosening it and adding sand and lots of lime.
- Wet floor: It is important to know how wet the floor actually is - and why. Planting lilacs near a body of water makes little sense, but laying drainage in soil that has been moistened by heavy rain (e.g. in a depression) does.
The right substrate for lilacs grown in pots
If you want to cultivate lilacs in a pot, you should place it in a mixture of good pot plant soil (€18.00 on Amazon), sand and expanded clay - and of course don't forget the drainage!
Tip
Lilac is incompatible with itself, which is why you should never plant a new one in a location where such a shrub or tree has already existed. Only a previous replacement of the soil would make planting possible.