I just found out that I probably planted my lilac bushes incorrectly. I planted them two summers ago. I dug holes twice as large as the pot the lilacs were in. However, instead of filling the hole with the displaced soil, I instead used planters mix soil to fill the hole.

The natural soil in the area has a lot of clay in it, the type where if you're doing any sort of landscaping, and the soil gets wet and you walk through it, you gain about 20 pounds of mud on each shoe.

So I've read where I might have created a bathtub effect for the lilacs? Is this going to have a long term detrimental effect on the bushes?

They're nice a green but have only probably grown a foot or so in the two summers and they have never bloomed. I bought them at approximately 3 feet in height and they were in 3 gallon buckets.

Will this eventually be self correcting as the roots grow out of the planters mix portion and into the existing soil? Is there anything I should do to help remedy the issue?

Oh, and I did the same thing with some grape vines.

Thanks for any help or advice.

and may we presume they are not dwarf lilac???

did you add fertilizer.. or could it have been in the potting media you put in the hole???

any chance at a picture??

though you are correct in learning that perhaps you didnt do the best job planting.. its really hard to kill a lilac ...

ken

ken

I have two lilacs that I planted in this way and they're in pretty much full sun all day. There's some larger trees in the area which shade them a for an hour or two out of the day.

I don't know if they're dwarf lilacs or not. The cultivars are:

President Lincoln Lilac - to 10' tall
Katherine Havemeyer Lilac - to 12' tall

Actually last fall was their second fall. And I haven't pruned them yet.

I didn't add any fertilizer at planting or anytime after. I read where lilacs really don't need fertilizer?

They actually look good, nice lush green foliage. I guess I'm just worried that improper planting might stunt them or cause them to never bloom?

A couple of pics:

[IMG]http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b310/jagermeister5/June 2011/ P6242968.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b310/jagermeister5/June 2011/ P6242969.jpg[/IMG]

Thanks again for your help.

[IMG]http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b310/jagermeister5/June 2011/ P6242969R.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b310/jagermeister5/June 2011/ P6242968R.jpg[/IMG]