Lilac Cuttings

[Peteyd]

Evening All,

I'd quite like to take a cutting of my Lilac bush / Tree. Does anyone have any advice on how best to tackle it?

Thanks

[Plot70]

Last time I lived in a place that had a lilac bush it used to sucker from the ground.

[mothhawk]

Lilac is quite tricky to grow from cuttings. As Plot70 says, they sucker, and that's your best chance. If you want to try cuttings, unusually for a shrub, you need to use the new soft green growth, not semi-ripe wood, so it will be end of May beginning of June time.

Take 6" lengths, strip off all but the top two leaves, and insert into a pot of moist,free draining compost. Water well and cover with a poly bag or put in a propagator and place in a shady spot. Don't let the pot dry out, but don't keep it soggy either. If you use rooting hormone then using it on lilac will probably help. Take lots of cuttings, 4 or 5 to a six inch pot, and you may get a couple to grow.

[Peteyd]

Perfect, thanks for the advice. I'll give it a go and see how things go. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that.

[nickdub]

Be aware that some lilacs are grafted, so suckers from the base of a double white lilac may just be the common 'lilac coloured' type.

[Peteyd]

Ah, Something else to think about i suppose. I think this one is a normal coloured one anyway.

I've never had a great deal of luck with cuttings so it will be interesting to see how it turns out.