Lilac should be planted in the garden in late summer / early autumn, if possible, when it is no longer hot and dry but still warm enough. Then the roots have time to grow in in time for winter - while in spring the plant no longer has to spend energy on rooting and can instead sprout. You will probably have to wait another two to three years for the first flowering - lilacs only bloom at a later age.
When and how should you plant lilacs in autumn?
Lilac should ideally be planted between August and early October. To plant, a planting hole twice as large and deep as the root ball is dug, mixed with compost and horn shavings and then the plant is inserted and watered well.
Planting lilacs correctly
Container plants are already rooted and are therefore ideally planted in the garden between August and the beginning of October. The best way to do this is as follows:
- Dig a sufficiently large planting hole.
- This should be about twice as big and deep as the root ball.
- Fill it completely with water and wait for it to seep away.
- Mix the excavated material with a shovel of compost and a handful of horn shavings.
- Now pot the lilac out of its container.
- Plant it and fill in the soil carefully.
- The lilac must not be placed deeper in the pot than before.
- Tamp the soil thoroughly.
- Water the plant thoroughly again.
Naked-rooted lilacs, on the other hand, are better planted on a frost-free and dry day in late winter when the ground has already thawed.
Raising young lilacs
You can train a young lilac planted in autumn into the desired shape using sharp secateurs (€14.00 on Amazon).
For a dense lilac bush
- remove anything that was bent during transport
- also all weak shoots
- shorten the main shoots by a third each
If, on the other hand, you want to grow a standard stem, select the strongest shoot to the main shoot and tie it to a plant stick. Remove all other shoots growing from the roots.
Overwintering freshly planted lilacs
In the first winter you should protect the young, freshly planted lilac from the cold. For this purpose, you can cover the root slice with spruce or fir branches. Bark mulch, on the other hand, is not ideal as it keeps moisture in the soil - lilacs need a rather dry soil.
Tip
If you want to enjoy lilac blossoms in autumn, it is best to plant the variety Syringa microphylla 'Superba', also known as "autumn lilac". This dwarf song blooms repeatedly between April and October, interrupted only by short breaks. 'Superba' is also ideal for the vase.
