"I planted 3 Miss Kim Lilacs in my yard late in May." May is pretty late for planted trees and shrubs. With pot-grown material, it is do-able, but isn't ideal. It certainly requires diligence with monitoring soil moisture and watering when necessary. I planted according to the directions on the tag, and prepared the holes well, backfilling with a mix of bagged topsoil, compost, and native soil. The instructions you depended on were incorrect. It is almost never a good idea to amend backfill soil. Whoever wrote those instructions apparently didn't know much about planting woody plants. "I watered them after planting, but then we left town for 8 days." Without knowing what type of soil and drainage you have and how much it rained, we can't know much about whether this was a problem, but it definitely is a red flag. "One thing I did not do was separate the roots when planting...maybe this killed them?" I'm not sure exactly what you did from your description, but you probably helped your lilac more than hurting it by addressing any pot-bound roots. I don't think your problem lies here. As Ken said, find/keep that receipt if you have a warranty! Check out the link below for future plantings. Here is a link that might be useful: Planting a Tree or Shrub

I believe I am in zone 8b, possibly 9a. I have been told not to use fertilizer for the most part,as it can reduce or eliminate blooms entirely for the sake of leaves, and if I do to make sure it is low on nitrogen... something like an 8-20-16. The closest I could get was the rose fertilizer I had on hand, which is a 18-24-16, but I was willing to sacrifice blooms to gain some bulk on the bush and get it established. As for water, I tried to water it deeply a few times a week, making sure the soil wasn't water logged (until I realized my drainage had stopped up) but not dry either. We don't get a lot of rain here, so I tried to ignore everything I found saying not to water often. The lilac is planted in full sun, but because of how drastic it is here, it gets full a.m. sun, but some shade in the afternoon. I unfortunately had to plant the lilac in a container since we are renting the house, and I really would like to take it with us when we move. Do you have any suggestions as to what potting mix I should be using? I used Black Gold general purpose potting soil when I planted it. I recently received a very small Miss Kim lilac, and want to make sure I don't make the same mistake with this one. Thanks!

Did you plant the lilacs and know the age and variety? Did it topple and pull out of the ground or break off near the base? Have you dug up the roots to see what the roots look like and if it broke, what do the stems look like at the break, alive or dead? Does water collect there or is the soil constantly really wet? Does it have a swampy smell in warm weather or just smell like regular dirt? I am just trying to get more info since if there in fact another cause, my suggestions may not work for you. If you have a photo, that might help as well. Also, you want to know your growing zone since Maine ranges from zones 3-6, a 30 degree difference in the average lowest winter temperatures. You can look up your zone on the map linked below. http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/phzmweb/interactivemap.aspx For my area, moisture tolerant shrubs include: Rhododendron viscosum/swamp Rhododendron with scented spring bloom, Clethra/summersweet which has late summer flowers and gorgeous yellow fall color, Itea virginiana/sweetspire with later summer flowers and red fall foliage, one of the shorter cultivars of winterberry holly/Ilex verticillata (need a male for every 6 or so females to get the beautiful fall berries, their only spectacular aspect) red-twigged dogwood, some of which have variegated leaves and some of which have yellow fall color but are mostly grown for winter red stems one of the really small selections of the native white cedar AKA arborvitae, but be sure you get Thuja occidentalis rather than one of the less moisture tolerant species of Thuja. Most of these exceed you height requirements by a large amount and if you have deer that come that close to the house they will get eaten, but they are a wonderful evergreen if you can find a small enough cultivar.

Don't know if was grafted or not. My son had planted that tree about 10 years ago and the last 3 years it has failed to put on any foliage on that one side I always trimmed it in the late fall for a rounded shape it love that and bloomed better than anything. I knew in a month after I drove that fertilizer stake into the ground after the leaves started dying. I even tried digging up the rest of that stake out but was too late. After that the tree started to die branch by branch. I love that tree and I'm sad to cut it down but can get another 6 ft one for about $300.00 not sure I should plant it in that same spot though. I can pull the entire tree out roots and all with my truck.