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Landscape Design

lilac bush and landscaping

6 years ago

I let the sprouts grow under lilac bush last summer not sure if this is something that should be done or not. Thought it would help widened and thicken my bush. Thoughts?

The grass in my backyard is primarily zoysia, some other type of grass and lots of weeds because I do not believe in weed killer. The wooden fence is lined with weeds that have purple flowers on them and they seem to be attracting bees which I want. I really want to make it prettier and do some landscaping in front of fence. The Fenceline receives more shade than sun. I envision the edging wrapping it around the front of the lilacs to incorporate it all as one.

How do you think that would work? I welcome ideas and pictures.

I will research and plants native to Missouri that are great for pollinators

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Comment (1)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
6 years ago
Lilacs are suckering shrubs so the 'sprouts' (actually root suckers) are entirely expected and how the shrub increases in size. Gardeners can choose how many they wish to leave in place or dig them up and share with neighbors if they want to confine the spread.

It might be helpful if you would post photos of the weeds on the Name That Plant or Weeds forums for a correct identification. Some weeds are fine to be left in place for pollinators or beneficial insects and others are just too invasive to allow to remain in a cultivated setting.
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Thanks for advice. The house is 15 years old but most of the landscaping (I was told by neighbor) is about 8-10 years old. I know these bushes are at least 5 years old because the people we bought from lived there for 4 years and other than mow the grass they did absolutely NOTHING outdoors. All of the landscaping was in pretty bad shape when we bought a year ago. Nice stuff....just overgrown, crowded and generally neglected. I would say all three of the lilac bushes are about 3-4ft. tall. One is perhaps 5 ft. tall. So they are definitely a dwarf variety. I noticed lots of new growth this year but not alot of blooms. How far should I prune it back? Thanks
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"Nicole, most lilacs will bloom twice if you deadhead the flower when it begins to fade" Not with any old fashioned common lilac or Syringa vulgaris cultivars! The flower buds are set in the previous season and they are what they are. Deadheading will not increase their numbers! There are a couple of reblooming lilac varieties but they are rather complex hybrids involving S. meyerii, S. microphylla, S. oblata and S. vulgaris. They stay quite compact, do not produce the big, heavy flower panicles of common lilacs, have a much narrower color range (typically just lilac :-)) and lack the intense fragrance of common or French lilacs. They do smell good but not nearly as strong or as carrying a fragrance.
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I think that Hosta is tougher than you are giving it credit for. I would not be afraid to dig it out of there. I’m in zone 5, and one year I dug some hostas to move in fall, and then life happened. Around December I realized they were still sitting on the ground waiting to be planted. I figured I had killed them all, and every single one came out just fine.
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Thanks...I was afraid of that! I'll have to cross my fingers and hope she comes back. Is there a possibility it's something other than a lilac? It looks exactly like the one we had before...same leaves and branching structure...so I'm 99% sure but you never know! I'll have to try uploading pics because there are a number of plants I don't recognize! Thanks, again!
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