lilacs as a hedge

Hi everyone,

I would like to plant lilacs (Syringa vulgaris) as a hedge. The plants I will be getting will be 1 to 1-1/2 feet tall. How far apart should I plant them?

Thank you,
Heidi

I would plant them about 4 feet apart. How tall do you want them to get. The only problem you may have with lilacs is powdery mildew. Is there a good airflow where you want to plant them? Because that will help.

I would like them to get pretty tall...maybe 8-10 feet. I was planning on planting them by a 4 foot picket fence but I might have to rethink that if it would impede the airflow and cause problems. They would be used to create a border between our yard and a sidewalk on one side and our yard and another yard on the other side.

What side of the fence will you be planting on? How wide do you want your hedge to be. If you plant them about 2 ft from the fence, there should be enough air flow. What direction does the fence run? N to S or E to W and what side of the fence will you be planting on? So many questions! The reason I ask is that the prevailing winds come usually from the W so if your fence runs E to W it won't really matter. If your fence runs N to S and you are planting on the E side, it may be a problem.

If it is a problem, you may think about something like forsythia...
Or for a fragrant flower, Viburnum...

Or just go for the lilac if it is what you love, because the mildew doesn't really do any damage, it is just unsightly and coats the leaves cutting down on photosynthesis.

They would grow over that 4' fence in no time. I would space them 4-6' apart as they will sucker in time and fill in that space easily. They're aren't many lilacs that will get to 10' around here. Miss Kim will get tall enough for a hedge in time and is less mildew prone.

Miss Kim is a dwarf variety and only gets to 6ft. The S vulgaris will fit the size she expects. There are many varieties that would work. 'Sensation' is a beautiful flower (French hybrid) the flower is deep purple outlined in white. Very beautiful and of course, fragrant.

I have Miss Kim and know how tall it is. Most old fashioned lilacs I have seen 10' tall are either 10' wide or hacked down to keep narrow enough and you could see through them anyway. There are other shrubs like the viburnum or ninebarks that are taller and narrower.

If you want a really tall hedge, look for Syringa reticulata var.amurensis , they grow up to 5 metres tall. They have only white bossoms, and blossom later than other lilacs, but are really nice.

I have lilac hedge, and I presume you will need to consider about the second hedge inside as bottom part of lilac hedge does not look great and must be covered with other plants.

Sorry for the delay in answering. I wasn't sure how to answer momo's questions because we were still trying to pick out a lot on which to build our new house and I think we *finally* found one. The fence will run North/South with the lilacs on the East side so I might have to start thinking about planting something else for my hedge.

As I read this thread, I kept thinking I really lucked out. My mother sent home with me last weekend three shoots off her lilac bush. I came home and planted them on the side of my house that gets the most sun 2 feet out from the base of the house, and about 3 feet apart. Do I need to do anything to them other than fertilize and mulch?