Re: Lilac shrub is poorly

Lilacs are generally hardy and tolerate most conditions but dislike air pollution, for instance if you live by a busy road or in a city and have had a mild winter the leaf fall you describe can occur. however it could be a number of things and I would ask at a garden centre for a suitable pesticide spray next Spring and keep my fingers crossed.
Brian 8451.

Re: Lilac shrub is poorly

Re: Lilac shrub is poorly

I don't remember pressing the send button!!

The first photo shows the brown patches and the second shows high big the shrub is. I hope it does recover, fingers crossed!!

Eileen, have looked at the leaves and there's no sign of mildew.
Brian, yes I think I will have to ask about it at the garden centre if it doesn't pick up next spring. There's no pollution here as I live in the country and we had a very hard winter last year.

Re: Lilac shrub is poorly

What a shame a nice large specimen too, so if it is not the growing conditions then I would plump for a pesticide in the spring you could be lucky.
Brian 8451

Re: Lilac shrub is poorly

I'm wondering if it could possibly be lilac blight, Marian

http://donsgarden.co.uk/pests/301

Re: Lilac shrub is poorly

Thanks for sending the link Mags which i've just been reading. Hmmm not too sure if that's the problem or not, its a possibility though. I probably need to delve further into this as see what else I come up with. Its such a shame though as its obviously quite an old shrub so I hope it does survive, but I will do what the article says.

Actually there are some new shoots appearing which is good.

Re: Lilac shrub is poorly

Well who would have guessed.... I always talk to mine in the garden .. and the damned things died after the winter. I lost so many trees and shrubs last winter, but it was terribley cold here and they say it will be this coming winter. I refuse to replace them so have bought a Dutch Arbour to fill some space and its back is next to the house next door so I dont have to look at the little rat of a man who lives next door.

Re: Lilac shrub is poorly

I've not been on here for a while again so I missed this - and it's quite a coincidence too.
I've recently had to look at a Lilac that was donated and planted in memory of a former resident where I now work.
This plant was about 5 years old I think but still only 10 inches tall, with the same leaf problem in the photo.
There was a lot of hand-ringing about it so I had a look at it.
I dug it up and inspected the roots, which looked quite healthy to me, so I thought I'd beef-up the soil a bit and replant it, mainly because I found 4 new shoots just beneath the surface.
I had to go back to the shed first but when I returned I found four very large grubs coming out of the rootball and, when I shook the rootball, several smaller ones also fell out!

I dunked the whole rootball in a bucket of luke-warm water for a while and then replanted it.
That was two weeks ago and it definitely looks better so I'll keep an eye on it, give it a good talking to and see whether the buds now forming come out in the new year.
I don't know much about the grubs but I've found them in my own garden and on large specimens of shrubs I've added a general pesticide in an area of about three feet around the base of the plant and it's usually worked.
I've also fed the plant quite heavily in spring too.
The only difference that I've seen is two identical Garrya shrubs, the same age, same aspect, same soil yet one is 10 feet and the other only 5 feet. Both are healthy and growing well but the smaller one will, I suspect, always be the smaller of the two as they are now 12 years old!! stevmk2

Re: Lilac shrub is poorly

Thank you stevmk2 for the info. I will take a look at the roots to see if there is anything untoward lurking there. Not sure about Marian though, as it's such a large shrub.

Re: Lilac shrub is poorly

That's a shame then Annie that you lost so many shrubs and tress last year but it sounds like you've come up with a good idea of the Dutch Arbour