Naturally, the lilac (bot. Syringa vulgaris) grows in shrub form and develops several heavily woody trunks with age. The flowering shrub keeps growing from the roots - a very effective method of propagation, which is why you have to be particularly careful when cultivating a standard tree. In this article you will find out what else needs to be considered when pruning a standard lilac tree.
Lilacs as a standard must be cut regularly
The best time to cut lilacs
First of all: standard lilacs should be pruned regularly, in contrast to specimens grown as shrubs. Otherwise, you may end up cultivating a shrub in no time because of the numerous root suckers. You should remove these again and again throughout the year, as they rob the plant of its strength. The lilacs should better invest in the development of a dense crown and lush flowers. The crown, however, should only be cut back immediately after the flowers have faded, because the lilacs immediately attach the flower buds of the following year to the new shoot tips. These should therefore not be cut if possible.
Cut lilac standard
The annual care or thinning cut is absolutely necessary, in which you
- Cut off wild shoots from the root and trunk directly at the base
- Remove crossing shoots at the base of the trunk or branch
- Also cut off curved or inward-growing shoots at the base
- Cut away old and dead shoots
- Remove leafless or leafless shoots, especially inside the crown directly on the trunk or branch
- as well as noticeably thin, weak shoots, bluntly cut off.
You should also shorten all new shoots by half for young plants planted the previous year. With older lilacs, cut back the new shoots except for a few eyes, this causes increased shoot growth and thus a compaction of the crown. This pruning is not necessary every year, but only when there is a risk of balding and rejuvenation is overdue.
Keep standard lilacs small
Lilac shoots tend to grow more vertically than forming a beautifully branched crown. You can counteract this tendency with the right cutting technique. To do this, shorten upward-growing branches by at least a third, while outward-growing shoots are cut back less.
tips
If your lilac does not have any branches that grow outwards, you can help with a trick: tie a stone or something similar to the end of a suitable branch, which bends the shoot downwards. After a while it will follow this forced direction of growth on its own.