May 9, 2008

lilac pruning (and perfuming)

Filed Under cut flowers, tools & techniques, trees & shrubs

WHEN LILACS IN THE DOORYARD BLOOM…is the time to prune, and to bring bundles inside to smell up the house. Learn the simple details to make the right cuts (and for cuts that last the longest possible time in a vase, too):

Unless they are overgrown, lilacs don’t need much pruning (except the “musts” for every woody plant we all agreed recently that we’d keep up with, removing dead, diseased and damaged woody, or any that’s just not well-placed). But by doing a little pruning (read: cutting bouquets of flowers to enjoy) you do the plant a favor, and prevent the ugly aftermath of lilac-blooming season, those dried-up trusses that persist forever, or so it seems. (I have to admit, once I catch up with my other garden chores I deadhead my many lilacs, removing whatever spent flowerheads I didn’t harvest earlier as bouquets…just can’t stand those nasty deadheads all summer, fall and winter long.)

But right now, while your lilacs bloom, simply work as if you want to gather a bouquet, which is essentially deadheading the plant. Before putting the stems in water, crush the ends with a hammer on a stone or other hard surface outside so that they can drink enough to keep the large flowerheads from wilting (which they will otherwise do almost at once). The same conditioning trick works for other woody branches you want to display in water, by the way.

Isn’t it nice when a chore is also a treat? For more on lilac pruning, try this.

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16 Responses to “lilac pruning (and perfuming)”

Andrew Ritchie on May 9th, 2008 2:04 pm

Margaret,

A bit of British folklore for you: bringing lilacs indoors is bad luck. This is according to my great grandmother who heard it from her mother. She cancelled a spring dinner once in Bedfordshire, England, because the newly arranged lilacs had caused her to burn the chicken and slice her finger open with a knife. Out the lilacs went, with the chicken and the guests. My grandmother and mum have not had lilacs indoors - ever!

But I’m going to tempt fate. All around our building are massive amounts of lilac bushes. As if I can resist… Burned chicken or not!

-Andrew
Andrew Ritchie on May 9th, 2008 2:06 pm

This blog is exciting because I can time our blooms in Ottawa by guestimating their arrival: approximately two weeks after yours appear. It’s a nice window on the floral future!

-A-
margaret on May 9th, 2008 2:17 pm

Nothing has set on fire yet this week here, but I will keep you posted! By the way, I put hats on beds sometimes and open umbrellas indoors as well to let them drip dry…taking a walk on the wild side again and again. ;-) Glad to hear you can now tell time by me, by the way…Margaret plus 2 equals Ottawa. I didn’t know that.
zurls22 on May 9th, 2008 4:16 pm

I only have 1 bloom on my lilac bushes. I am in CT. They get plenty of sunshine and airflow. I planted them 3 years ago. The first year I had tons of blooms, last year only a handful, and this year just the one. Help?
margaret on May 9th, 2008 6:22 pm

Welcome, Zurls22. I am going to answer here quickly and then make this into a post, I think, as I have been meaning to talk about “What, no Flowers?” but then I go outside and…and…and…
Several things can prevent good flowering: Too little sun, too much nitrogen (as in lots of lawn fertilizer or that blue stuff gone wild) or improper pruning.
If you prune lilac shrubs after about July 4 in this area (and I don’t even like to wait that long), you will be cutting off next year’s blooms, period. Was that it? Or possibly the fertilizer (usually the tipoff here is that the plant is bushy and has lots of healthy green leaves, but nothing else)?
Tell me more (and better yet in the Forums, where Q&A is easier). I may import this there, too. So many tasks to do here at A Way to Garden. Oh, my, what a busy girl I am.
Laurie on May 9th, 2008 11:29 pm

I love the lilacs. I had trouble with my lilac bush for the past couple of years and cut it back. This year it grew nicely and I had enough blooms to make a bouquet for the house. I like your site here. Very nice and imformative.
margaret on May 10th, 2008 4:59 am

Thanks, Laurie, and welcome. Glad to hear you are having success with your lilac now…good news!
Layanee on May 10th, 2008 6:38 am

Lilacs and lily of the valley are two delightfully heavy scents which always bring back happy childhood memories. Mine are not quite ready (the lilacs) but the bouquet of lily of the valley are perfuming the entry.
margaret on May 10th, 2008 6:50 am

I love that I have lilacs, but no Convallaria yet–and you have the opposite! It’s never quite a formula, this gardening, is it…never quite a precise calculation.
Deb on May 12th, 2008 8:51 am

I have lilac envy–none in my yard (yet) but a beautiful one next door. How should I go about buying and planting one so next year I can have my own?
margaret on May 12th, 2008 10:10 am

You couldn’t pick an easier shrub to plant or grow. As for which to choose, select by size (some stay in the 6-8 foot range, others grow 12-15 even) and select by color (you can have from white to pink to lavender to blue and purples, including some that are very dark). I plan to post a glossary of my favorites this week so maybe you will see one among them that suits you?
Deb on May 15th, 2008 7:08 pm

Wow–that glossary is unbelievable. Your place must be amazing, would love to see. Don’t you do garden tours? For some reason I’m drawn to the Wedgwood Blue, ;) But they’re all lovely. Replicating the one I remember mfrom childhood would only require a so-sweet aroma that carries on a breeze.
Frances Palmer on May 18th, 2008 7:48 am

Hi Margaret,
I had hoped to meet you yesterday at Trade Secrets but did not see you. I have had 2 lilac bushes against my kiln building - one white and one lavender - for about 5 years.
Neither bloom except one white flower and I was hoping that you might tell me what to do. I took a photo but I don’t think that I can attach it here.
Please let me know if you have any suggestions when you have a moment.
Regards, Frances
margaret on May 18th, 2008 8:06 am

Welcome, Frances. Here’s proof that I was at Trade Secrets (working the Loomis Creek booth).
As for your lilacs, there are several factors that affect bloom in most cases (and in most plants): sun (too little limits bloom); fertilizer (too much high-Nitrogen, like from feeding a lawn nearby or that blue stuff poured on the plant) sacrifices blossoming; and improperly timed pruning (anytime after July 4 here might take off next year’s flowers). See the post I wrote about this as a start, then tell me more. It includes some good external lilac links as well that you may wish to visit.
Bev Lukehart on June 27th, 2008 2:00 am

My lilac bush planted two years ago and transplanted last summer has glorious blooms. Here’s my question: I’ve been reading so much about proper pruning that I am afraid to cut the blossoms that I so much want to enjoy in my home and office. Is the simple cutting of blooms sufficient to help the plant with next year’s flowering, or should I be cutting in some specific way to ensure the following year’s growth? Thanks for your website, I’ve learned so much!
margaret on June 27th, 2008 6:01 am

Welcome, Bev. There is more information here on lilac pruning, in case you didn’t see it…but yes, cutting of blooms is plenty unless a shrub is very overgrown or was damaged by a storm or some such. Recent studies have shown deadheading doesn’t really make a huge difference in flowering year to year, but I like to do it with lilacs for the visual relief from all those messy faded flowers hanging on forever. So up to you.

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Who's Gardening Here?

from martha to just margaret
I was so blessed to visit and document many of the nation’s finest homemade gardens for 15 years for ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ first as its garden editor and then as editorial director for the company. The list of places we were proud to publish included my own upstate New York home a few years back. Take a tour of how it looked then. Want to know more about me? Or read what Anne Raver said in June in The New York Times, calling A Way to Garden “the best (garden blog) I’d ever seen.”
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One of the most popular questions at A Way to Garden: Why do you garden? A bunch of us answered in a stream of comments, but there's great newer stuff on the Forums. Just in case you'd like to tell us why, too (or have a good read about what makes the rest of us tick).
July Garden Chores

All based on my Zone 5B Berkshire/Hudson Valley location; adjust accordingly.

JULY STARTS OUT as Throw In the Trowel Month here, but then summer shapes up and the heat-lovers have their day. All is forgiven! Keeping up with watering and weeds tops the to-do list, with planting and other more macho tasks (other than mowing my steep hillside) at a minimum.

FIRST, THE HAIRCUTS: Many perennials (euphorbia, some true geraniums, ribbon grass) do better the second half of the season if cut back hard. Others need just deadheading. Annuals that grow leggy can often benefit from a chop job, too. Do some experiments. Sometimes a plant can’t look worse, and you probably won’t kill it. :-)

MAKE A PASS through each bed each week, since weeds are not just unsightly but steal moisture, nutrients and light from desired plants. Top up mulch in all garden beds if washed or worn away to help in the plight.

IF YOU ARE IN JAPANESE BEETLE territory, handpick (as with other obvious pests like tomato hornworms) in early morning and drown in a can of water to reduce infestation. Plan to try to reduce grub population with nematodes.

GARDENS NEED an inch of water a week from you or the heavens. Check your rain gauge to make sure they get it, and remember: soak deeply in the root zone, don’t spritz things with a sprayer now and again like you’re washing the car. That’s a garden no-no. Pots need extra attention, especially smallish ones in sun, and they also need regular feeding. Be alert!

TREES & SHRUBS

STOP FEEDING woody plants. Promoting more soft growth in high summer isn’t good; time for them to start moving toward the hardening-off phase of their cycle. No more eats till earliest spring.

TREES ARE especially vulnerable to drought, particularly the oldest and the youngest (those planted in the last few years). Water deeply, as with a Tree-Gator. Ugly…but better than not watering the kids!

ALWAYS BE on the lookout for dead, damaged, diseased wood in trees and shrubs and prune them out as discovered. Ditto with suckers and water sprouts.

SPRING-FLOWERING shrubs like lilacs reach the end of their pruning window after July 4th here, otherwise risking damage to emerging buds for next year’s blooms.

THROUGH MONTH’S END, softwood cuttings of Buddleia, Weigela, Rose-of-Sharon and roses, among other shrubs, can be taken to propagate more plants inexpensively.

VEGETABLE, FRUIT & HERBS

STRAWBERRY BEDS may appreciate rejuvenation now.

KEEP GARLIC AND ASPARAGUS well weeded. Garlic may start to fade and topple by later this month or next, as harvest time nears. When several lower leaves yellow, try carefully lifting a head or two to judge readiness, before lifting all to cure during a warm, dry spell in an airy, sheltered place. Let asparagus ferns grow till frost to feed the underlying crowns.

CONTINUE SOWING carrots, beets, radishes, lettuce, dill. With salad greens, select heat-resistant varieties, and sow small amounts every 10 days. Direct-sow a short row of bush beans every two weeks through month’s end, and another mound of bush cukes and zucchini right now.

FOR PEAK FLAVOR, harvest basil, sage, marjoram and oreganos, mint, tarragon are best harvested just before bloom. Start more basil from seed for combining with those September tomatoes, and dill for late pickles. Harvest lavender, rosemary and chamomile as they flower, blossoms and all.

FLOWER GARDEN

SOW VIOLAS (and pansies where they overwinter) in flats indoors for set-out in fall, where they’ll appreciate a protective mulch after the ground freezes. Fall-planted violas bloom earlier next spring.

PRUNE RAMBLER ROSES and once-blooming climbers now, after their flowering period.

MANY PERENNIALS and biennials can be started now from seed, then set out in the fall into nursery beds.

I MOW THE foliage of my ripened daffodil drifts around July 4th. Deadhead faded perennials unless they have showy seedheads (same with bulbs), or you want to collect seed later (non-hybrids only).

ARE ANNUAL VINES getting the continuing support they need, whether twine, wire, lattice?

ORDER BULBS to get varieties you want (see Sources). Remember our “early, middle, late” mantra when doing so.

PREPARE NEW beds for fall planting by smothering grass or weeds with layers of recycled corrugated cardboard or thick layers of newspaper, then put mulch on top.

EDGE BEDS to make a clean line and define them, and keep edges clean with regular fine-tuning with grass shears. A clean edge makes a big difference.

HOUSEPLANTS
Houseplants, including amaryllis, can spend the summer outdoors, in a sheltered location with filtered bright light (not direct sun). Feed regularly.

LAWN
Don’t bag or rake clippings; let them lie on the lawn to return Nitrogen to the soil.

COMPOST HEAP
Don’t let the heap dry out completely, or it will not “cook.” Turning it to aerate will also hasten decomposition, but things will rot eventually even if not turned.
In Brief

genetic reversions in progress
THERE APPEARS TO BE A REVOLT GOING ON around here. A mass reversion, to be specific…so far noted in four plants who have changed color on me. What’s a gardener to do?

why I count birds
I LEARNED RECENTLY that I am one of 50,000 people (a million total so far) who submit monthly bird-watching checklists to ebird.org, a joint program of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon. That number is up from only 5,000 a month just three years ago (and you can make it 50,001 if you sign up to help). But why bother?

loving to hate white flowers
I KEEP SAYING I hate white flowers, but then I see them all over the yard and think, hey, I must have planted them, so what’s up with that?

when the godlight shines
YOU KNOW IT WHEN you see it, and I call it the godlight. That heavenly slanting light that turns things, well, heavenly. Have a look—and tell me if it’s been shining on you lately?

twist-off ticks
I AM COMING IN everyday with at least a tick or two on me; not embedded, thankfully, so far, but it's only a matter of time. But I am prepared. Are you?

foliage fetish
ASK YOURSELF with every plant you consider buying: how are its leaves? Flowers come and go, but leaves stick around, so they had better be good.

body-count update
SOME OF US confessed early on to having lost some plants to winter, but what’s up and croaked since? I can’t believe everything’s just gone perfectly…anyone ready to confess?

can-do pruning
REPEAT AFTER ME: I can prune. I can prune. If you follow this simple method for starters, your woody plants will thank you.

the ‘other’ peonies
JUNE IS PEONY TIME, the big raucous kind of peony time, but not long ago another kind of peony you might want to consider adopting did its subtler, wonderful thing.

which lilac to plant?
SO MANY LILACS, so little space. Browse a glossary of some of my favorites before you shop—maybe you’ll like them, too.

non-blooming peonies?
ARE YOUR PEONIES not cooperating—is there not a good crop of flower buds, and you don’t know why? This came up on the Forums, and here’s the dish.

gone, but not forgotten
ONE OF MY FAVORITE spring bloomers, Hylomecon japonicum, poked up through the soil surface the last week in April for a showy couple of weeks. Learn about this little-grown but easy perennial.

anything but forsythia
I guess I have a thing against forsythia…even though I have several specimens of it along the fringes of my property. But there are better choices for spring color among shrubs.

surprise (avian) visitors
If you make a garden for birds, or even plant a crabapple or two (or ten), you never know who’ll show up.

gourd of all gourds
DON'T GET ME STARTED on Cucurbita, the genus that includes pumpkins and squash and some gourds. But rather than digress into a thousand-word rant here on my truest loves, let me just say this: nest egg (as in ‘Nest Egg’ gourd).

magnolias to love
THEY’RE MEMORIES NOW but I couldn't garden without magnolias. Want to know more about the queen of the spring-blooming trees?

a cage supreme
READY TO END your relationship with tomato cages that are barely tall and wide and strong enough for half a healthy tomato plant? Try these.

order in the garden
I AM LABELING my plants, I am. As memory fades, out comes the label machine, just in the nick. Saved by the Dymo. You can be, too.
Buried Treasure

I NOTICE THAT BLOGGING results in some rich but buried treasure: great stuff in a comment thread you may not see; interesting topics on the forums that perhaps you haven't visited.

Subjects ranging from feeding and pruning Hydrangeas and pruning clematis, to entertaining (read: ranting) lists and lists of garden no-no’s (not just mine!).

Pick a click, and enjoy. Better yet, CHIME IN yourself. Up in the nav bar…that's right, GO FOR IT: our Q&A FORUMS.