underplanting the tree lilac - root advice?

16 years ago

Greetings! This forum is a wealth of knowledge, hoping you can provide some advice on a garden situation.

We have a japanese tree lilac in the front yard. It was 6-8 ft tall when we bought it 9 yrs ago, been doing well, tops are even with the 2nd floor window now. We ordered it, along with the ever-popular spirea and low-growing junipers to go around it, when we were new to the house, and open to suggestion (yard was plain grass before then).

Planted some tulips around the outer ring of the tree line about 6-7 years ago - beautiful blooms for a couple of years, then they petered out.

Have been focusing on other parts of the garden (hostas on the north side, roses on the south, veggies in back) for a while, and after finally getting sick enough of the juniper to remove it this summer (that was a task!), the area around the japanese lilac is somewhat bare. The three spireas there are looking a bit unhealthy (green leaves on only a few spots, leafless branches elsewhere), so I'm thinking about removing them as well (another easy job :) ), and converting the spot to a 'tulips in the spring, summer annuals later on' setup.

My question is... in order to get bulbs deep enough, I'm going to be digging into some fairly hard soil here. did a lot of amendments to work up from clay, but it will still be a tough road. As it is, I'll need to add some soil to this area to get the depth I think I'll need.

Will such digging (6-8 inches) harm the roots of the tree lilac? I don't know if their root system is shallow by nature, or if they can withstand some disruption. I've already marked this as a no-rototiller area, much as it would make mixing the soil easier.

Of course, all the bulbs came in this week, and they're downstairs waiting for a new home... I can find places elsewhere in gerden if need be, but would like to gain perspective if this is more of an uphill battle than it's worth.... advice appreciated.

Thanks, Leslie

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Comments (3)

alpiner
16 years ago
Go ahead and plant to your heart's content. This is a hardy and versatile tree. One way to get depth is to dig down a few inches AND add a couple inches of soil to the surface. Just don't let the new soil build up against the actual trunk to a height of an inch or more. Using a variety of bulbs (crocus, squills, botanical tulips, tulips, etc.) will give you longer colour Plant your tulips the deepest and the others more shallow....either on top of the tulips or at a shallow spot if you run into a tree root.
flowerpilot
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you for the feedback! We ended up modifying our original plan somewhat - that ground was really pretty tough, and there were numerous feeder roots going out a ways.

Didn't feel comfortable trying to go through that just for tulips (I like flowers enough, but didn't want to put the tree through that stress), so we kept our original layout of tulips on the outside ring, and keeping the inner portion (basically diretly under the tree) somewhat bare for now - given the roots and soil conditions, i'm thinking that nasturtiums may find that a nice home in the summer, will use for ground cover.

Wasn't up to taking the spirea out, but did trim them back pretty strongly, hoping they'll get a second chance to gain some form and strength. May actually work out well here.

Mulched and set for now; just need a bit of rain - it's strange to be getting temps this warm this late in the season!

Leslie

Thanks again, Leslie
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pbandj_grow
16 years ago
flowerpilot,

I think you did right for modifying your original plan. While the tree is pretty tough, it is never a good idea to dig deeply within the root zone (the drip line) of any tree. One fact that most people fail to consider is that the majority of the feeder roots of any tree are within the top 2 or 3 feet of soil and while a tree may have exceptional rejuvinating power, cutting these roots is always a shock that should be avoided. I much prefer to build raised beds around trees with an inner and outer retaining wall when possible and at least a foot deep.

One of the reasons your previous Tulips petered out is a lack of adequate food and moisture, coupled with not being able to lift the bulbs about every three years and rejuvinate the bed. If you were able to water and feed enough to keep the bulbs thriving, the tree would steal the bulk of it for its own use.

As far as your Spirea is concerned. Dead canes is a normal part of the growth cycle of any Spirea. These will need to be trimmed out on a regular basis. I have been growing different species of Spirea for more than 40 years and while some are better than others, they all do this as part of their nature. Most Spirea are suseptible to borers as well. From the sounds of yours, I would recomend that you cut it down to within about 6" to 8" of the ground and it should come back quite thick eventually. If it does not, trust me, it was on its way out anyway. But I seriously doubt this was the case.

You might try the link below for some good information and they have a pretty good newsletter also that covers a little bit of everything. Hope this helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardening Resource

underplanting the tree lilac - root advice?

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alpiner

flowerpilot
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underplanting the tree lilac - root advice?

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alpiner

flowerpilotOriginal Author

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flowerpilot
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