How to Care for a Yankee Doodle Lilac
Yankee Doodle lilac is an easygoing, disease- and pollution-resistant shrub that adds springtime color to nearly any home landscape, including urban, inner city environments. The shrub adapts to nearly any type of soil and tolerates damp or dry conditions and both mild and extreme weather, including hot summers and freezing winters. Butterflies love the gigantic, deep purple blooms that appear above the bluish-gray foliage in mid-spring. A moderately fast grower that reaches mature heights of about 8 feet, Yankee Doodle lilac is best planted in autumn.
Plant a young Yankee Doodle lilac in a sunny location and in moist, well-drained soil.
Spread 1 to 2 inches of compost under the lilac every spring. Top the compost with 2 to 3 inches of mulch as chopped leaves or shredded bark. Compost enriches the soil, and mulch controls the weeds and keeps the roots cool and moist.
Water lilacs deeply once every week during warm weather, saturating the soil to a depth of approximately 8 inches. After the first 3 or 4 years, lilacs require supplemental irrigation only during periods of extreme heat or drought.
Begin pruning lilacs after spring blooming when the plant is 3 or 4 years old. Avoid excessive pruning, but prune lightly to remove damaged or dead branches, and to restore the plant to the desired size and shape.
- Add an extra layer of mulch in late autumn if you live in a climate with hard winter freezes. Mulch prevents the soil from heaving due to repeated freezing and thawing.
- Prune old, badly overgrown lilacs by as much as one-third of their total height. Continue to prune by one-third every year for a total of three consecutive years, or until the desired size and shape is restored.
- Never prune lilacs after midsummer, as you may remove the young buds that become blooms the following year.
M.H. Dyer began her writing career as a staff writer at a community newspaper and is now a full-time commercial writer. She writes about a variety of topics, with a focus on sustainable, pesticide- and herbicide-free gardening. She is an Oregon State University Master Gardener and Master Naturalist and holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative nonfiction writing.