It belongs to spring like hardly any other garden tree: the lilac. The white, violet or pink flowering shrub shows its intensely fragrant flowers in the merry month of May, which not only delights people. For numerous insects - above all butterflies, bees and bumblebees - its heyday means a richly laid table. After flowering, however, you should pull out the scissors.
If the lilac flowers are not cut, seeds will form
Avoid seeding the lilac
Like so many lush flowering shrubs, the common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) tends to self-seed. The wild forms in particular reproduce in large numbers in this way, so that without appropriate countermeasures you can soon call an entire forest your own. However, this does not apply to all lilac species, some, especially the noble lilac, are self-sterile and cannot reproduce by seed. With all other varieties, however, you should prevent this by plucking back the faded shoots. However, if propagation by seeds is planned, collect the capsule fruits in autumn, shake out the fine seeds and sow them in a seed tray.
Watch out for spreading through root shoots
In general, some lilacs are very keen to reproduce: Wild lilacs in particular not only seed themselves, but also spread through root suckers. You can effectively prevent this with root barriers.
Cut lilac blossoms for the vase - this is how you do it right
Lilac blossoms are not only very popular in the garden, but also as a vase decoration. So that the panicles give you pleasure for as long as possible, you should proceed as follows when cutting:
- Cut off lilac flower stalks that have not yet opened buds.
- Cut the stems right at the base, they should not have any leaves.
- Cut early in the morning if possible, then the flowers will last longer.
- Change the water in the vase every day.
tips
In any case, lilacs should be cut back immediately after flowering. Now is the best time to remove old, diseased and improperly growing branches.