Cut lilacs and summer lilacs correctly

Which lilac to cut?

“Lilac” usually means the common lilac, Syringa vulgaris. He immigrated from Constantinople in the 16th century and has had a long career with us since then, which already indicates that it is an intrepid woody plant that is willing to grow. This impression is absolutely correct: So fearless that the Syringa vulgaris was classified as an invasive species by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation in 2013, the wilderness of which is subject to special management so that it does not displace native species.

Because that is the case, and because German dealers and gardeners have noticed that Syringa vulgaris is only one of around 25 species of lilac, our gardens are increasingly populated by other lilac species.

Syringa chinensis, Syringa hyacinthiflora, Syringa prestoniae, dwarf lilacs called Syringa microphylla and Syringa meyeri are each available in several cultivars and bring all possible and impossible lilac colors into our gardens.

The basic cut is similar for all these species and varieties (and the around 60 cultivars of Syringa vulgaris) and is described below. You should also inform yourself separately whether a species / variety is fast-growing or slow-growing, resistant or susceptible to fungus – some lilacs are robust with regard to the cut, some noble lilacs that do not grow on their own roots want to be treated with caution when cutting.

If you want to use scissors at all, because:

Lilac does not need to be pruned

Lilac is usually very easy on pruning, but does not necessarily have to be pruned annually.

Young lilacs should even be allowed to grow freely as long as possible, they then develop a pleasing growth habit with several strong main branches on their own. If your lilac sees it differently and z. B. begins to branch wildly just above the ground, you are welcome to intervene in the young lilac and give it z. B. point the way up by clearing in the base area.

Your lilac should move towards the following overall shape: It develops some sturdy stems with a clear distance from one another, on which many side shoots form at a beautifully even distance, which cover the whole shrub with fragrant flowers. Wherever he shows deviant growth, you can intervene.

If you don’t have a lot of space in the garden and you want the lilac to remain compact, annual pruning is recommended:

An overview of the annual lilac pruning

If you want to keep a lilac very compact and perhaps also small from the start, you can cut it annually, here are the cutting instructions:

• You can grow a lilac as a shrub
• Or as a smaller tree with heights of 4 meters, see below “Lilac high trunks”
• The flowering time of the lilac is between the beginning of April and the end of May, depending on the climate
• The lilacs should always be pruned immediately after the flowering period in spring
• It forms the next season’s flower buds on the shoot that develops after flowering
• The later you cut after flowering, the greater the risk that all of the next year’s buds will be cut away
• If too many main branches develop, or if they become too thick with age, they can be cut away at the base.
• The remaining branches can be cut into shape all around the outside.
• In total, up to 1/3 of the woody mass can be removed.

The flowering cut

Lilac blooms on the wood that grew in the previous year, in technical terms, last year’s or two-year-old wood.

You can encourage abundant bloom by removing the bloomed buds when they reach the wilting stage. Then the lilacs make an effort to plant new flower buds for the next season in order to secure reproduction with them. If it has already done a couple of times for reproduction, a tree quickly becomes blooming lazy, if it is kept prevented from doing so, it tries continuously to produce offspring … You can prune the lilac in the upper area every few years until the blossoms are always easily accessible.

Even if you want your lilac to grow large, you should try to remove as many of the dried up flowers as possible or within reach. Only then will your lilac concentrate on producing new flower buds instead of seeds, and the shrub will look much nicer and tidier without drying flower panicles.

The shoot on the trunk and on the ground

Lilacs have a tendency to form new shoots at the bottom of the trunk and to push many small saplings out of the ground around them. These ground shoots and shoots close to the ground must or can be pruned, whereby a distinction must be made:

• Refined lilacs can produce wild shoots from the substrate in the vicinity, which do not necessarily have to be removed
• If your noble lilac has been propagated through grafting, these wild shoots are normal “common lilacs”
• Wild shoots at the bottom of the trunk must then always be removed, otherwise your lilac would soon no longer be your lilac
• Wild shoots on the ground very close to the noble lilac should also be eliminated
• The robust lilac of the base could be a strong competition for your noble lilac …
• The ground shoots are best cut off with a spade with a really sharp edge
• More distant wild shoots can be grown if you are enjoying a pristine lilac in your garden
• It should then have come out of the ground a good distance away, it will surely surpass the vigor of the noble lilac
• Even noble lilacs are now increasingly being offered without roots
• The common lilac is only sold as a real-root plant
• Lilacs on their own roots also produce (fewer) ground shoots, but with the same properties as the mother plant
• You should of course not let them overgrow your lilac if you want it to shine as a solitaire
• If it is to be a lilac hedge, it is something else, then the ground shoots are allowed to grow at a comfortable distance
• A reasonable distance means half the growth width, i.e. 1.5 to 2 m

Prune lilacs in the bucket

Today you will usually get a Canadian lilac “Syringa x josiflexa” or a Preston lilac “Syringa x prestoniae” if you have asked for a lilac for pots. These Canadian varieties have the following cutting characteristics:

• Extreme winter hardiness, you can overwinter outside in the bucket with winter protection
• The consequence for normal sized apartments: The FFF in the bucket can be as big as the balcony or terrace can handle
• Both varieties reach a height of around 2.5 m and grow bushy and compact on their own
• So these lilacs do not have to be cut very much overall
• If a little pruning is necessary, pruning is done after flowering
• This is 2 to 3 weeks later than with Syringa vulgaris

If you want to keep a normal lilac in the bucket, that’s basically possible. However, it must then be pruned every year, otherwise it will lose its compact growth habit, which looks good in the bucket.

Lilacs – self-made tall trunks!

The lilac for everyone, a high trunk fits on every balcony. You can pull this lilac high trunk yourself by pruning:

• Select young lilacs with the straight central shoot as possible and tie them to a stick
• Except for a few thin ones, the side shoots are removed
• The rest promotes the growth of the trunk
• When your future trunk is tall enough, its shoot tip will be cut away
• The later crown center is located where the shoot is cut
• The side shoots that appear around the interface are allowed to grow first
• Except for the strongest, beautifully distributed 8 to 12, the rest is removed
• These future crown-leading shoots are also shortened, 4, 5 eyes below the tip of the shoot
• They should branch out, all side shoots are shortened again and again until a well-branched crown is formed
• When the trunk can support the crown, the support rod can be removed
• Then the growth-promoting side shoots at the bottom of the trunk can also be removed
• Shoots that will form on the trunk in the future must still be removed.

The taper cut for the lilac

A neglected lilac can creatively grow back and forth until it can only breathe again through radical pruning. This pruning is done in winter so that you can clearly see how you are reshaping the tree. Reshaping means thinning out, not only with fruit trees should you be able to throw a hat through the crown; Since the blossom wood of the next season will also be cut away, the “restored lilac” will not bloom again until the year after next.

Cut Buddleia

The Buddleia is actually called the butterfly bush, botanically Buddleja davidii. It has nothing to do with the native lilac, but comes from Asia, like most of the 100 or so Buddleja species. There are no indigenous Buddleja, the Buddleja davidii is rather trying to become at home in Central Europe by spreading in the wild.

That is why it is officially no longer very popular with us, as early as 2008, the Zentralverband Gartenbau eV recommended to horticulture and trade not to plant Buddleja davidii in open landscapes and to advise customers that inflorescences should be cut off before the seeds ripen and that plant residues should not be composted may.

Since there are consumers who, instead of the option “Prior information on the Internet, purchase from specialist retailers with advice”, go straight to ordering on the Internet, at (only apparently cheaper) import dealers who deal with everything without knowledge of the product, that was not enough – the currently valid nature conservation invasiveness assessment 2013 certifies Buddleja davidii the justified assumption of negative ecosystem effects, it is slowly spreading in warm summer areas of Germany.

It is also not a real butterfly bush, although it does provide nectar for butterflies and other insects, it disappoints them overall bitterly and pretty mean: The nectar of the lilac-like flowers is the same, the rest of the plant is worthless for the domestic insect world, Offspring placed on a Buddleja starved to death.

Against this background, the buddleia can no longer be recommended for planting, which is of little use if you have already bought or planted a Buddleja davidii. Then of course you still have to know how the Buddleja davidii has to be pruned, not really a problem with such a proliferating wood:

• Buddleja davidii is very easy on pruning and needs a lot of pruning every year
• The cut is carried out on the summer-flowering shrub in spring
• Pruning is possible from early spring and should be done in good time so that budding is not disturbed
• Buddleia blooms in the same season on the branches that sprout after they have been cut
• It should be cut back generously and down to the woody parts
• After flowering, the responsible authorities recommend pruning measures to prevent the plant from spreading further
• The inflorescences should be cut away before seed formation and disposed of (not on the compost)

You are doing the environment and yourself a favor if you dispose of the inflorescences to prevent germs – otherwise Buddleja will sow itself in the most impossible places, down to the last crack. In contrast to the lilac, a Buddleja has to be pruned annually, this “weed” grows up to 2 m per year and could take over your garden at some point if too little pruning.

Conclusion

Lilac is beautiful, especially valuable for the environment in the wild species and does not need to be pruned at all in the right location. It can be pruned, which is not particularly difficult if you have not just caught a super-sensitive noble lilac. Buddleia is also beautiful, but only that, it has little to offer the environment, most gardeners will eventually become annoying with the annual pruning.