A lot can happen in the many decades that a lilac reaches with appropriate care: for example, the garden is redesigned from time to time or a shed or other building is to be built at this location. Maybe the lilac has simply grown too big over the years and therefore needs more space - there are many reasons for transplanting the ornamental tree. In the following article you will find instructions and tips on how best to transplant.
When and how should a lilac be transplanted?
To successfully transplant a lilac, this should be done in autumn or early spring. Before moving, the lilac should be cut back by at least a third. Younger lilacs up to around ten years old are easier to transplant than older specimens.
The best time to transplant lilacs
But before you hopefully get a spade and get started, take a look at the calendar. If you want the lilac to survive, do not replant it in the middle of the growing season - spring and especially summer are a bad season for this. It is better to wait until autumn or early spring before transplanting. The easiest way to move the tree is in March, or at the beginning of April at the latest.
Can you still move an old lilac?
In addition to the season, the age of the lilac itself is also an important criterion for the success of your project. Younger lilacs up. Approximately ten years can usually be transported to another location more or less easily. However, if your specimen is already a few decades old, you should think carefully about transplanting - these lilacs often have a widely spread root system that extends over many meters around and will suffer serious damage if this system is cut off. You would have to put such a shrub or tree on the stick (i.e. radically cut it back to about 30 centimeters above the ground) and only then move it.
Implementing lilacs – How to do it
In any case, pruning before transplanting is extremely important. Since the roots are damaged when transplanting, the remaining ones can no longer adequately nourish the bush. Therefore, cutting back is a must so that the lilac can put its energy into root growth and does not have to desperately try to feed its above-ground plant parts (in vain). And this is how it works:
- First cut the lilac back by at least a third.
- The older the lilac is, the more it needs to be cut back.
- You can also put it on the stick, i.e. H. shorten to 30 centimeters above the ground.
- Now use the spade to cut the ground around the lilac.
- The radius should at least correspond to the circumference of the bush before pruning.
- Drive the spade in leaf-deep.
- Now take a digging fork and loosen the root ball by gently jerking back and forth.
- Lift out the root ball including the lilac.
- Feel free to leave a generous amount of soil at the roots.
- Now dig a planting hole that is at least twice as large and deep as the root ball.
- Fill it completely with water and wait until it seeps away.
- Mix the excavated soil with compost and wood shavings.
- Replant the lilac.
- Water it regularly in the coming days and weeks.
The lilac flowers fail at least in the first year after transplanting. Some specimens only bloom again after several years.
Tip
Instead of moving the entire lilac, you can simply separate root shoots or cuttings and plant them again in the desired location.