Not sure if its a flower or a shrub

[ridgefire]

My mother said I could transplant some of her lilacs to my house.

How do I do it?

I'm assuming just dig around some of the small new growth shoots and put it in a bucket and bring it home.

Think they will make a good sound break from the yard and the busy street?

 

[digitS']

Yes and Yes!

succinctly,
digitS'

 

[patandchickens]

Try to find suckers that have run a little distance away from the parent trunks, so you have a less crowded area in which to dig. Pull on the sucker to see if it seems to pry up back towards the parent plant (that indicates it is poorly rooted yet and you don't want it). When you think you found a good one, try to get as much of its roots as possible when you dig it up. I woiuld suggest diggind the front and sides first -- that way, if you find it is not well rooted on its own after all, just leave it connected to the parent plant, pat the dirt back arounfd it, and let that one be til next year

However, if you want a functional sound barrier (lilacs are pretty good in summertime, not worth all *that* much [but better than most other deciduous shrubs] when leafless in winter]) you will be substantially better off buying larger plants. Lilacs don't grow tremendously fast, and are often set back a good deal by transplanting or taking off as suckers in my experience, and it will be a number of years before they grow into 'real' size'/shape lilac bushes. If you do transplant anyhow, give them the best start possible by digging good-sized holes, chopping up the sides and bottom of the holes with your shovel blade, sprinkling a couple handfuls of bonemeal per hole and ruffling it into the dirt before planting the lilac, and keeping grass well away from the lilac (mulch helps, but you'll prolly need to edge/weed too).

Good luck,

Pat

 

[ridgefire]

I forgot to ask about soil conditions.

Where I want to plant them by the road, its kind of sandy out there. Will they do ok in sandy soil?

Not too worried if it takes a few years for them to grow. I'm not going anywhere.

My mother has some of the prettiest liliac I have ever seen.

My mother in law told as well if I want some of her snow ball bush shoots I could dig them up too.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

They can certainly take sandy loam. I would add compost, at least at first, just to be safe. They also like wood ash, as long as your soil isn't already very alkaline.

 

[patandchickens]

Sandy is fine as long as it isn't *sand* (has reasonable organic content) and does not get too dry in the summer. Lilacs are not terribly particular critters, but the better a start you can give them, the quicker they will start actually growing rather than just sitting there and sulking

Have fun,

Pat