Collected lilac aftercare question

[bonsaichile]

I collected this lilac slightly over 2 weeks ago from a neighborhood house about to be demolished. It had one large bud that opened up. Now I see that there are sucklers coming from the root area. My question is: should I rub those sucklers off and hope for more buds up the trunck or leave them be to strengthen the plant?

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Greetings!

Lilacs can sucker very prolifically, but can be pernicious about specific bud sites. It seems best to just let the tree run as hard as it can this year in hopes it will be really strong by fall and give you lots of choices.

Late winter, early spring will be a good time to shoot select.

cheers
DSD sends

 

[bonsaichile]

Greetings!

Lilacs can sucker very prolifically, but can be pernicious about specific bud sites. It seems best to just let the tree run as hard as it can this year in hopes it will be really strong by fall and give you lots of choices.

Late winter, early spring will be a good time to shoot select.

cheers
DSD sends

Thank you for your reply. I will leave it alone for at least a year. It produced exactly one bud in the trunk, but it is a very strong one! At least it will prevent it from dying al the way back!

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Keep it growing and treat it kindly. If the stump was viable, its sure to sucker more throughout the year.

btw Just an observation. In our area lilacs do really well in the sun during the spring and very early summer. Once things start getting hot, they don't do well at all and do best in dappled sunlight. Not sure about your area or cultivar.

cheers
DSD sends

 

[bonsaichile]

Keep it growing and treat it kindly. If the stump was viable, its sure to sucker more throughout the year.

btw Just an observation. In our area lilacs do really well in the sun during the spring and very early summer. Once things start getting hot, they don't do well at all and do best in dappled sunlight. Not sure about your area or cultivar.

cheers
DSD sends

Lilacs are very common in my neighborhoof. This was planted in full sun during the summer. So it is the big one I have in the backyard. I will keep an eye on it during the summer, since this one is in a pondbasket. I might keep it in morning sun only during july-august

 

[bonsaichile]

It is really picking up! And it seems we wont have freezing temps at might for the next 10 days

 

[bonsaichile]

Inspired by walter pall's lilac #3 thread, I decided to compete with him and show how much my own lilac has grows

 

[bonsaichile]

That top shoot is over 1 ft long, for scale

 

[bonsaichile]

The tree was growing well and I left for a 3-week vacation. As it never happens, it rained literally evey day during those weeks. As a result, all my deciduous got anthracnose and were in a pitiful state when I came back. After a complete defoliatjon and weekly applications of cupper-based fungicide, they are all coming back. Interestingly, this lilac came back with smaller leaves and is ramifying almost every branch. So pruning walter pall style next year after flowering (if it does flower) should result in better ramification.

 

[bonsaichile]

A little update on this lilac: i finally decided on a directoon for this tree. On the one side, the old dead trunks, which, in time, will lose their bark and revealed the spiral pattern of old lilac hardwood, bleached by the sun. I will carve the tops to make them look less human-made. I want this to contrast with the young trunk coming out of the dead ones. Life coming out of previous life. I think I might get flowers next year!