Propagate Lilac Shoots or Suckers - Easiest Way to Start Lilacs! 

Thank you for this. I've been afraid to keep lilacs in pots because I didn't think they would do well. I have 2 very special lilacs trees from my mom who passed a couple of years ago. We are renting a house right now so I don't want to plant them and leave them here. This gives me hope that I can keep them in pots until we land in a forever home.

You're so inspirational! I will be transplanting a shoot off a gigantic, sprawling 120+-year-old "Mother" lilac bush from my great-grandmother's farm that just sold. Having never done anything like this before, you make it look so do-able. ... Also, I never knew I could pot a lilac bush! ... And Brilliant tip to spray paint those black growing pots. Thank you so very much! Am looking forward to exploring your other videos! 😀

My mom has a lilac bush in her yard and I’d like to get a plant just like it for my own home as an ode to her. And the nostalgic smell. Thank you for this!

Just what I needed. We have some lilacs that are sending out suckers this spring and I wanted to add some more to other areas of the yard. Thanks for the tips.

LOL LOVE the She Shed. When hubby of 31 years died I turned our whole house into a SHE shed.

love this video, im moving into a new home and want to take some of my lilacs with me! this is exactly the video I was looking for! great job.

I strongly suggest buying a trench shovel for gardening! It’s my absolute favorite tool!

Thank you so much for this. I have a lilac tree full of suckers and am looking forward to propagating. They are so beautiful.

Thanks for sharing! I have a huuuuge lilac bush that is taking over our front yard and my husband HATES mowing around it. I would love to take some smaller suckers and make them into small plants. This is super helpful!

Wow this was great, thanks for the tips, awesome video and well explained. Oh and no annoying background music, well done 🙂👍

Great tips. I'm a renter so now I can have my own lilac bush in a barrel. 🌞💜

Thank you for taking the time to offer your valuable expertise...getting some shoots for my bro-inlaw right now

So happy I discovered you on Pinterest 😊 As a Newbie trying to develop the Green in my thumb… you give clear simple instructions 🙌🏽♥️🙌🏽

Thanks so much for your video I’ve been wanting to do this I grew up with lilac trees when I was growing up ! we had a great big one in between our two kitchen windows so in the summer in May I thall we would smell when we had our windows open and it was the best smell in the whole wide world brings back a lot of great memories

Have you ever been to Prague? After WWII they planted thousands of lilacs all over the city. I look forward to spring even more because of the lilacs’ the blanket of color but even more so the air in the entire city is sweet with their aroma. Just divine! FYI right after the lilacs, the Linden trees (the Czech national tree) blooms and then the air is heavy with its lovely aroma. Do come sometime soon to experience this for yourself. Thank you for your video. Most helpful.

Loved the video! I have a nightmare on my hands. A couple years ago, I thought I propagated my Grandma's lilac bush, but turns out I've been babying Bittersweet Nightshade! UGHHHHH. Now I've got to destroy it and start over. I think I'll start by spraying and getting rid of the nightshade, then in the spring, I'll follow your steps and get the lilac just in a pot, wait another year and then plant it where I wanted it in the first place. I hope I can get rid of the nightshade. I'm so embarrassed. It must've been growing under the lilac bush, and those were the shoots I dug up.

Thank you so much for this!!! I've wanted to do this for years!!!

Interesting to hear about the potential spreading of suckers and having to pull them up etc. because after 7 years of living here, the 1 lilac I have, which was here before me has never really spread. Lilac is probably my favorite natural floral fragrance and I just love it and came searching to see if some how it could be propagated. That'll you for sharing, I'm going to go look and see if I see any suckers....side note, my rose of sharon sends to spread seedlings all over and they start to grow in places is rather not have them and have had to pull some, I wish my lilac was like that. 😁

Hello there dear flower patch lady, thankyou i really enjoyed, and very helpful xxbless you,xx

This was a nice, clear and friendly instructional. Thank you!

Wow, I did not even think to do Lilacs in a pot. I have 4 lilacs because I love the smell and have bouquets in very room during bloom time. 2 are 30 years old of the old fashioned variety and 2 of the newer reblooming. I have never had a problem with suckers but I do mow around mine as they are not in a garden but in my large yard with nothing around them, spread apart so a mower fits. I will try one in a large pot so thanks for the new way to try a new method.

Fantastic Pam. I'm a renter so seeing you do this just gave me such Inspiration. I subscribed. Lovely homestead. Stay Blessed. Thank you for the share sunshine. 🌞🥰🇨🇦

I put mine straight in the ground and i had complete success. I have 3 now.

Thank you so much! What you did, is what I'm going to attempt to do! I"m going to put it in the ground.

Happy Janie introduced your garden show to her regulars. I am located in So. California zone 9b and had never thought of potting a lilac before. Love the tutorials and have subscribed. Thank you !

Oh this is perfect! My mother has to have some serious pruning to do to my grandmothers original lilac planting, I think I may go steal a sucker before she does! :)

Thank you. I have mid-toned mauve lilacs growing in my garden in Melbourne Australia, and I wanted to make use of the suckers that have made an appearance.

Beautiful she shed!

I have the same shoes and they look just like yours! Thanks for this video. I needed this exact information. :)

I have a huge lilac on the corner of the property, and across the street is a country club entrance. The lights of all the cars graze my front porch and shine into our windows at night. My thought was to keep the lilac bush growing around the corner to block alot of it out. It won't do any good in the winter, but we don't hang out on the porch in the winter, either. Nice video!

I’m going to do this. I did it before and I need one to give to my neighbor. He wants a lilac. Thank you for reminding me! New sub!

Interesting. I'm learning sooo much. In southern California, I have a lilac in the ground with no suckers, and a potted one with over ten suckers.

Thank you for this video, this is exactly what I was looking for. Sharpen your shovel, better yet use a flat transfer shovel that has been sharpened. You'll thank me next time you have to cut thru roots.

Thank you for an easy, clear explanation!

Lilac grows wild here and overtakes trees. I recently moved to the city and wanted to bring some of the country with me. Thanks for the vid!

Thank you. I’m going to try this

Excellent video!

I always wondered how many suckers the lilacs normally produce FPF ?? Are the old lilacs different from the new virility ??? Nice video FPF, look forward to see more great videos from you young lady too. I can tell your passion for the plant Pam.

Video yang sangat bermanfaat sukses selalu

My lilac bush is over 30 years old and I've never seen a sucker growing around it , would love to be able to dig.some.up and plant more lilac plants they are so beautiful and never find them.for sale anywhere.

Great video, thank you very much!

That perlite sure loves to float.

Thank you so much! This was a very helpful video. Glad you shared your expertise.

Get a Saws all (reciprocating saw) and a Hori Hori knife. Makes digging roots much easier.

I have no idea why this was a suggested video for me to watch. I come from a long line of family who for generations worked with plants their entire life. Most people who like to beautiful their homes or their business with plants, bushes and or tress most likely will have some knowledge of lilac bushes. My experience has shown me this HAS to be one of the EASIEST plants to work with and to transplant. I was younger than ten when my mom said brake a branch, stick it in the ground and see it grow!! You remember thinking , it’s as easy as that!! 🤔 I sort of laughed when I saw this video suggested. Sorry to tell you I didn’t watch it. I went straight to the comment section. I inherited two homes when I was 23 then again when I was 27. All my neighbors were almost twice my age. They had money to put into their yards. I made some income from renting my homes, and of course I worked outside the home but my husband at the time took all of it almost all of the time. I got creative with these type of plants that cost me next to little . After twenty one years separation and lots of time and money spent on a lengthy divorce my plants and my being outside and working around plants was like a mini savior to me. When my x husband had gone off his rocker or would have his tirade about anything (his way of controlling everyone and every aspect of anyone’s life) my garden was my precious and temporary escape :). Lilacs make you feel happy. They touch your senses. They are so beautiful and so very easy and simple to work with. When I decided to leave my second bought home after 25 years (two of those years spent with my husband ) I was so drained of time and money I literally had only so little money to take one of the smallest moving vans and one week to move what I could. I asked the closest person to me outside of my household to take as many plants as they could. The new owner was going to take down almost 75 percent of all the plants and trees and bushes. I literally took my child’s wagon filled with plants and transported many many plants to one of my old homes riding with a bicycle across two large cities. What a site that must have been. :) I managed to bring two rare and gorgeous and fragrant lilac bushes. One I inherited at my previous home. This was a very delicate type of lilac. This type of lilac is one of the few that needs a sucker to put in a pot or the soil to flourish and grow. When you loosen the soil with wood chips and a little extra sand and give it some bone meal and it will thank you later. It sort of interesting my mother knew exactly what was best for each child. I was the officially pick-all-the-weeds child on a two acre property business starting as young as seven years old. I graduated to lawn and edging worker in the next few years. Lol. Then I worked at the business and in the office, always surrounded by plants. I let my child dabble in the garden as early as two years old. She has a great appreciation for garden artistry and knowledge. We are going to buy a house together soon. She has already appointed me the official gardener. Personally I know that growing things is so enjoyable and second nature for her that her entire household will be involved. Thanks so much for having videos and it’s nice to see people enjoying these beautiful plants we have been so blessed with!!

Took 3 off my Moms 60 yr old one this season....so easy.

Great time for this video. I have a few small lilac plants coming up and I want to dig them up when they start coming up after the snow is gone. I don’t heat my greenhouse so they will have to go in the ground protected. Thanks for the info.

house's backyard sides are surrounded by them, weird to see someone wanting to save the pups instead of cutting them back. maybe it would be fun to dig them up to give to ppl

This video is great, thank you!

Thank you for making this video:)

This was great to know!

Thank you for showing the whole process! I tried to dig up one of the suckers, but it didn’t have such a nice root system like yours did! Only one little thread. Would you recommend adding rooting hormone to the pot?

Ima steal some from my moms lilacs!

Perfect. Thanks!

I pulled stickers from under beautiful wild lilacs we found on the mountain we live on. They rooted and made it through winter. Last winter was brutal with consistant freez and thaw all winter.

Good idea, thanks.

If you have any suckering descanso lilacs please send them to me. I have good luck with them here in Texas.

I find a PITCH FORK works better than shovel for removing plants without destroying them.

Thank you so much. God Bless

Great, thank you.

Great informative video! Thanks 👍🏻

Fabulous, I'm just about to do this so extremely helpful..new sub ;)

I have a lilac tree that has a few suckers. Wow never knew they could be propagated. Do you have an update on how this potting turned out? Thanks for this video!

GREAT VIDEO!!!

If I were to keep lilacs in a pot, what would the winter care be (zone 5b)? Best to bring inside/in garage? I think pots would be best for me at the moment :) Thanks for the video! I grabbed cuttings last night, but if they don't root, I'll grab some suckers in the spring :)

Excellent

Do you have a follow up? Hiw do we know it didn't die?

Loppers work better to sever the main root.

Amazing

Can you transplant in the fall

It’s currently early-to-mid September in zone 6B. Do you think I have time to grab and plant a sucker before the weather turns? How many weeks was it between your harvesting the suckers and replanting them in the blog post that links to this video?

Thank you ❤

Thank you :)

loved the video and the information

GT GT information and interest thanks for your time 🐞🐦👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Thanks. But try soaking the ground first. Water is a lubricant. Makes digging much easier. And some soil will likely stick to the roots.

I have a question. I have taken out two suckers of white-blooming lilacs and transplanted them in a new spot. Now, after an hour the leaves are looking very droopy and sad. Is that normal?

My lilac doesn’t put out suckers, from what I can tell. It’s very old and established and healthy, but it only grows new shoots right out of the pruned trunks of the bush, not separate suckers. Maybe it’s because the ground is mulched around it? No idea. I wouldn’t be complaining if I hadn’t discovered they could be propagated. Lol

Thank you.

Enjoyed your video a lot. Y'know I often see "lilac food' for sale in nursery catalogs at high prices. Do you know what those mixed are so I can make my own and save$$$. Thanks again 😊.

I do not have a green thumb at all so thank you for this video. If planted in a pot, should the lilac stay outdoors or can it be an indoor plant? If indoors, how much sun/water should you give it? Thank you!

Mine doesn't have the suckers and is on the side of house. It is bent over and very thick on the limbs. Almost like a tree but several of them coming out of the ground but no new ones. I bet it doesn't get enough sun where it's at but does make fragrant blossoms. Can you help me. I had to go to RU-vid because the video didn't work on Google.

I am moving in a few weeks. My yard still has 10 inches of snow. Will I be able to try this and have a lilac 3000 miles from here to my new place?

I bought a new home and it has a lilac tree with a stump and its super cute I think it a korean drawf lilac tree.. I had suckers all at the base of the tree stump... I can dig it up to make more trees? how long to be a big tree?

Is there a certain month that I should dig up the suckered? My daughter has a tree and I would like to take a sucker to grow in my garden 🙂

Please show them in full blooms

Nice video, thank you. About how long does it take for a cutting such as this to grow into a nice sized plant? I'll be planting my straight into the ground.

Is it ok to use a 5 ga bucket? This way it would have the handle making it easier for me to move it.

If you clean your spade and sharpen edge it will dig better.

Will this sucker grow flowers? Or would it have to get bigger?

Can you keep the potted lilacs out in the winter zone 6A?

Thanks for the video! Did it bloom in its next year?

Now after you replanted that how many years does it take to start flowering??

❤

Hi Pam, do lilacs send out runners as well? I dug out a red twig dogwood bc of the invasive runners. I want to make sure before I plant a Miss kim in my yard.

What month is a good month to do this?

Can you please tell me what area or zone you are in? i believe in the US somewhere? I am in Canada and would love to keep in an oak barrel but not sure the lilac can survive the harsh winter in even a large pot.

Hi!! Thanks for the video! Should you use the root powder for new starts that already have a little root system, or only on cut stems? ❤️❤️

Hi, I recently flew back to GA with quite a few pieces from my mom's garden. I'm having trouble identifying one of the plants and I think it's lilac but I'm not sure? The leaves look like lilac but the "stem" grows way above the leaves and has what looks like little seeds on it.

Do lilac bushes do well in shaded/ partial sun areas?