Lilac (Syringa) with its numerous species and varieties can be used in various ways: as a shrub or tree, the flowering shrub cuts a fine figure as a solitary plant, in a colorful mixed group of plants and as a hedge. So that your lilac hedge quickly grows into a healthy privacy screen, you should give the plants a good location, an airy distance from each other and care for them appropriate to the species.
Lilac makes an excellent hedge plant
location and soil
It is best to plant your desired lilac hedge in a full sun or light, partially shaded location where the shrubs get at least four hours of sun a day. The darker the place, the fewer flowers the lilac will form - but it often gets all the more leaf mass. Yellow leaves and/or poor growth, on the other hand, are often an indication of a location that is too dark. The soil is ideally loose, well-drained and sandy. Lilacs, on the other hand, tend not to like heavy clay soils.
planting time
So that the plants can root well in their new location, you should plant them in the fall if possible. The month of September is ideal for planting the lilac hedge, when the air and soil are still warm. Alternatively, planting in spring is also possible, but then you should protect the plants against possible late frosts - otherwise the first shoots will simply freeze away. On the other hand, plant bare-root lilacs in winter - if possible between December and the beginning of April.
planting distance
In principle, the lilac hedge naturally becomes denser the closer you place the individual plants. However, the shrub spreads its roots, which run shallow under the ground, very widely, so that after a few years a strong root pressure can build up. In general, it is recommended to plant between three and four Syringa vulgaris varieties per meter. These should in turn have a minimum distance of one meter to walls, fences, etc. So that the individual hedge plants are more airy, you can also plant them offset instead of in a straight line.
Nice combinations
Even pure lilac hedges are a wonderful eye-catcher, especially when they are in bloom, and you can put them together from a single variety or from different varieties. On the other hand, it becomes more colorful if you combine the lilac with other flowering shrubs that either bloom at the same time or open their flowers when the lilac has already faded. For example, the following are well suited:
- ornamental apple (penalty)
- Weigela (Weigela)
- Scented jasmine / mock orange (Philadelphus)
- Kolkwitzia / mother-of-pearl shrub (Kolkwitzia amabilis)
- Garden Hibiscus / Garden Marshmallow (Hibiscus syriacus)
- Hydrangeas (Hydrangea)
- Bush mallows (Lavatera)
- Ranunculus (Kerria japonica)
- roses (pink)
tips
Because of possible nesting birds, hedges may be closed between 01.03. and the 30.09. one year not to be cut. However, you can carefully clean the lilac by hand after flowering.