Expert: C.L. Fornari - 6/8/2003

Question
I live in Indiana.  I put in a lilac bush this year.  My leaves are wilted and turning brown.  My little bush looks very shabby and I have tried everything from watering more, and fertilizing it.  I used miracle grow potting soil when I planted.

I hope you have an answer for my desperate looking bush.

Thank you

Answer
traci,
Has the weather in Indiana been very damp/rainy? Lilacs can get a fungal condition in wet spring weather that causes the leaves to wilt and turn brown.  The shrubs recover from this when the weather improves.
Some other possibilities and their solutions are:

If it wilted shortly after you fertilized, there might have been too much fertilizer (fertilizer burn) - flush the soil with water and do not fertilize again this year.  Water deeply once a week through out the summer.

It may have dried out  - new plants either have a root system the size of the container, or one that has been cut in the ball-and-burlap process.  Both dry up quickly, but if this is the case, chances are it will recover over time.  Again, a DEEP soaking once a week all summer. (let the hose trickle on the plant around 30 minutes - do not hand water, because you get bored long before the plant gets a deep soaking)

If the plant was dug shortly before you planted it and there were not many roots left on the plant, the leaves may wilt because there just are not enough roots to support the foliage.  In such cases, the plant loses the leaves in order to put all it's energy into growing more roots to save its life.  Such lilics usually live... water as mentioned before.

If the plant was diseased, this might cause what you see - unusal and pretty unlikely.

Lastly, perhaps the plant was hit with something you don't know about: herbicide, drift from another chemical such as a house-washing spray or window cleaner, or other unknown drift from the area.

No matter what the cause, at this point water it deeply once a week if you don't have an inch or more of rainfall.  Do not fertilize again this year, and hope for the best.  Lilics like growing in "sweet" soil, so a yearly application of a half of a cup of lime or a couple of cups of wood ashes around the base of the plant will help keep it blooming.

I hope this helps!
C.L. Fornari