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Northwestern Gardening

Help! California lilac fading...

10 years ago

This just started late this winter. Right after the recent cold/snow snap I noticed several dead/dying branches on a very large CA lilac in front of my house. I started cutting the dead/dying branches away and found that some of the main stems of the bush had turned brown and were cracking. I cut back as much as I could hoping to save a large branch that was only partly affected, but now it appears to be going too. The brown rot ends at a junction near the main stem of the bush, but I am worried that's it's going to continue to spread and kill the whole. Is there anything I can do, or is it done for?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

This post was edited by wmsts on Tue, Mar 18, 14 at 22:50

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Comments (4)

Embothrium
10 years ago
The two main things that get these are low winter temperatures and root rot. The coastal species also often cannot take the heat of interior sites.

Sprouting from old, hard wood does not occur with the evergreen species - anyplace you have cut back that far you have now cut away that section of the shrub.

If it continues to look derelict for some months give up and take the whole thing out. If this is one of the popular evergreen hybrids cold damage can start as high as 15 degrees F.
wmsts
Original Author
10 years ago
Gracias.

I took a lot out, but I can always put something small in front of it. You can't tell from the photo, but it is massive on top. I'd really like to save it.
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i would go far beyond lack of water being a 'likely problem' .. seeing the bone dry mounds of soil ... the grass left isnt going to help this summer either ... the future is all in the growth tips... all other leaves can be sacrificed ... not the best thing to do.. so we still potential life .... but i agree... put the hose on a trickle.. and leave it there for a few hours ... and shade will definitely help.... get on old bed sheet.. tie it on the fence.. and get some rocks to hold it out in the lawn .... artificial shade ... in case you were to do such again ... and with the soil being that dry ... if you had trickled it at the original site.. a few days ahead.. you could have ensured the plant sucked up enough reserve water ... to help with the move .. and.. if you left it out of the ground for any amount of time.. that didnt help either.. which is why.. next time... dig the new hole first ... which also would tell you.. how dry the soil is ... and if bone dry.. fill the hole a couple times and let it drain away ... saturating the surrounding soil .... and then saturate the root mass .... ahhh.. live and learn.. good luck ... ken
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The house faces west along the Hudson river and we tend to get wind off the river, blowing from the front of the house to the back. I actually don't have a sense of smell so I hadn't thought of that aspect but it might be nice for DH to be downwind! You are correct that there is a big false cypress on one end (the left side of that photo), and a sprouting maple that is going to be eradicated smack in the middle. I would like to get rid of the privet and replace with an evergreen vine on the chain link fence or a trellis parallel to the fence. That might make a nice backdrop for the Josees? There is plenty of room closer to the house but I don't think there will be enough sun once the fence is covered in vines.
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OregonGrape
10 years ago
It sucks to have to rip out plants, but Ceanothus tend to grow very quickly. If you started with a one- or two-gallon plant right now, it'd be most of the way grown in a couple of years. Plus, it would look a lot better than a mature plant that's been cut back heavily.

I don't know which species/selection you have, but I'd strongly recommend going with one of the hardier ones: Buckbrush, Blue Jeans, Concha, etc. I've heard that Julia Phelps is similarly cold-tolerant, but I have no idea how it does in the PNW.

Heavy summer rain can also really damage Ceanothus. I planted a one-gallon Ceanothus thyrsiflorus 'Skylark' last winter and it was looking great... right up until we got 7" of rain during the last two weeks of September. By late October, most of the leaves had turned yellow and/or fallen off. Despite being really young and in the ground for only 8 months, it likely shed most of its root system. (And this is one of the more water-tolerant of the upright Ceanothus.) It's a good thing that I got rid of it and planted something else in that spot, as it likely would've died to the ground in December. (Last year was a bad one to be a California lilac in the PNW.)
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jean001a
10 years ago
Aha! 97211 is in Portland, OR, where the cause is most likely the cold we've had during the past several months.

I've lost 2 of my 3 Ceanothus and the 3rd probably won't survive.
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