Hi all. I have a question for ya. My family recently moved off our farm (sad) and there are a couple plants we want to take with us, or at least part of them, but we aren't very sure on how to move them. There are a couple of old lilac trees that are quite beautiful, and we've heard you can propagate a lilac from cuttings, but I'm not quite sure on the truth of that. Also, there is a rather large bridal wreath spirea 'shrub', and we have no clue on whether or not we can take cuttings of the shoots or not on that one either. Thanks lots joe
You can take cuttings from the lilacs - it's supposed to work best a month or so after the blossoms drop. My mom has mixed luck with lilac cuttings, and I've murdered a few trying it myself. Have you got new growth that you could dig up (roots and all) to bring with? I just transplanted a whole row of lilac suckers from my parents house and they're doing wonderfully in their new home! The spirea should grow from cuttings, suckers, or just out of spite if you "accidentally" mow it down. I haven't managed to kill ours, so they must be pretty hardy love, mom
We recently transplanted lilac and spirea (and forsythia and rose of sharon from my parent's yard to ours. We just dug up suckers and they are growing beautifully.
Nurseries grow them from cuttings all the time. You'll want to cut a piece a little thinner than a pencil. Make sure you have a bud close to the top and one near the bottom, and one in the middle...three buds are usually what you go for. Nurseries usually have misting benches, you probably don't. Coat the bottom of the cutting with roottone, a rooting hormone, and place it in a sterile soil mix, something with a little potting soil, sand and vermiculite. Place the cuttings and you can do more than one per pot (in fact you can fill the pot with cuttings) in a place where they don't receive direct light. Remove all the leaves from the cuttings and make sure you keep the soil damp but not soggy. If you are successful, you will find in about three weeks the cut on the bottom of the cutting will callous, form a knobby growth, this is where the new roots will generate. Propagators normally check their benches by tugging gently on the cuttings. If there is resistance you know you have roots forming. When you have plenty of resistance it's time to tip the cuttings and plant each one in a pot of their own, before planting them outside.
