lilac tree???

My husband bought me a Lilac Tree... Can anyone tell me about it? are they messy and will it branch out, or really stay looking like a tree?

If your husband got you a Syringa reticulata 'Japanese Lilac Tree' say Thank You! They are small trees that grow slowly to 20 to 30 tall and about 15 to 25 wide. They flower in early summer with large showy white panicles ( similar to the old fashioned lilac) except that the flowers get very large - up to a foot long and almost as wide. They are a hardy, tough adaptable tree. They like full sun and prefer an acidic soil with good drainage but will do well for most sunny situations.

Take care of it as you would any new tree transplant. Make sure it is planted at the right depth. DONT plant too deep and bury the root flare. Put a 2" to 3" mulch ring at least 2' wide around the base of the trunk but not touching the trunk. This will keep lawnmowers and string trimmers from damaging the bark which can kill the tree. It will also keep moisture in the soil. Mulch against the trunk can over time rot the trunk. Grass will out compete new trees when they are getting established too, so gettting the grass away from the root area is important. All new transplants should get an 1" of water per week the first year. So, you're on duty now through this fall and into the next growing season with watering. If mother nature doesn't water - you must! If this tree will be subjected to a lot of wind stake it for the first year, but only the first year. Correct planting, and a year of adequate moisture will give you a life time of enjoyment with this really nice specimen tree.
Enjoy!

I don't have one of these trees but I seriously considered it (not enough room in my yard). They're beautiful and sweetly fragrant. It's one of those trees (not a bush) that you detect the sweet fragrance then look around to see where it's coming from. A nearby city uses them as street trees because they tolerate pollution so well. It will eventually get large so you'll want to give it room. And enjoy!

Thanks, I will take good care of it!
here's a picture of it,
need to get the pine tree out of there, he planted it behind it, they said the pine tree has been there 5 years and has done nothing....(we just moved here) I wanted something between my beds, but I am wondering if it will give to much shade later...if maybe i need a new spot?

Do I see the mulch piled up against the trunk like a volcano? That's not a good thing to do.

the mulch was spread out, it's not like a volcanco, was in a hurry to get a picture before dark that day! It's nice and flat and doesn't touch the trunk...

Oh Thank You! I was worried there for a sec. Sounds the tree has a good home.

My 25-ft tall lilac tree just abruptly died this past month.
I have no idea why.
It was an established 10+ year-old plant.
Bloomed beautifully earlier this year, as usual.
Then, just turned brown and died.
Interestingly, a nearby established japanese maple also died equally abruptly last year.
I'm thinking it's the gardening version of the Bermuda Triangle.

The only pests I know of for Syringa reticulata are scale and borers. If you cut it down did you look for borer activity? I know it's not funny, but I snorted coffee out my nose about the Gardening Bermuda Triangle.

I personally think Japanese Maples are basically a depressed group of plants that have a tendency to commit suicide.

Last year we had a very bad drought around here and it's effects are just now showing up. It was the worst drought that we've had in a long time. Large parts of trees and bushes are dying off. Last year I remember a local, respected arborist predicting this would happen.

I don't know if your area had a drought last year or if it was due to something totally different. I just thought I'd throw in that possibility in case you did.

Would you consider planting another lilac tree? I'm still considering squeezing one in. What do you feel are the pluses and minuses of the tree?

If you were in an area that had excessive amounts of rain and/or flooding this year that could have done it too, sometimes being too wet will allow fungal diseases that were present in the soil to take hold, and it could take a while for that to show up. That wouldn't explain the JM that you lost last year, but it could explain the loss of the lilac this year.

Snapple has obviously had a bit of experience planting woody plants. She gives good advice, but many people already know I can be a stickler sometimes:

Most lilacs are quite tolerant of alkaline soils. Don't think that you have to have acidic soil.

Grass will out compete new trees when they are getting established

Yes, grass can certainly slow the tree's growth, but I wouldn't say grass would out compete it. I have spring planted seed grown Japanese Treelilacs (2-3ft sapplings) on a south facing unmowed grass covered gravel hillside. I could only water them maybe a total of five times the whole first season. Admittedly, this was harsh. Most of them seemed to have died, but then resprouted from the base. A couple stuck it out, but none actually died. They are all nice small trees now.

Japanese Treelilac is the common name for Syringa reticulata. What you have may be a simple seedling (my favorite) or it may be a particularly floriferous and tighter growing cultivar, like 'Ivory Snow'.

Leftwood is correct that Syringa reticulata doesn't need acid soil. They will tolerate most sunny positions even in alkaline soil. But they will do best (according to Dirr) in slightly acid soil. And as for grass out competing newly planted trees there is a recent OSU Extension study of trialed identical species grown in identical conditions with and without grass over the root zone. Those without grass faired a great deal better. I'll try to find a link to the paper, if I can. I was attending a municipal foresters' conference when the information was presented. According to OSU Extension municipalities can significantly reduce street tree transplant loss by keeping grass away for the first two years. I always try to give advice that would give a tree or plant the best possible growing chance.

This is pretty good stuff from want2b's home state Cooperative Extension about proper sight selection,
grass competition etc.

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1676.pdf

This message was edited Sep 29, 2008 11:04 PM

My apologies, Snapple. I guess my definition of "outcompeting" is different than yours. I always thought outcompeting meant that the entity in question won, overtook or defeated the other. While we must agree to disagree on that point, I did (and still do) agree that grass will significantly slow the growth of other plants among it (including a Japanese Treelilac).

No problem Leftwood. We do agree on providing the information that gives the tree, or any woody plant, the best possible cultural conditions and that's what counts.