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Every gardener wants to make his site beautiful and unique. The photo and description of the lilac The sensation presented below will help you choose the right place and time of planting, as well as provide the necessary knowledge about caring for the plant. This will allow you to get a beautiful flowering bush, pleasing to the eye during the warm summer months.
Description of lilac Sensation
The plant belongs to the olive family. For the first time this type of lilac was bred in France. It has a wonderful light fragrance. Lilac Sensation is a deciduous shrub with an even crown up to 3 m high. The branches of the plant are sprawling, large pointed leaves reach a length of 10 cm. This plant has received the greatest popularity among gardeners for its excellent resistance to frost and the greatest resistance to pests.
Currently, it is widely used for landscape design and decoration of garden and house plots. This variety of lilac can be used to create a hedge, or it can be planted as separate bushes. Sensation is best combined with white-blooming lilac species – alternating such bushes will give an impressive effect.
How the lilac blooms Sensation
Lilac blooms luxuriantly and very densely. Flowers gather in panicle inflorescence. Each inflorescence consists of either one or two panicles. The length of each is up to 20 cm with a width of up to 8 cm. Each flower has lilac petals with a small white border around the edges.
Flowering start time may vary depending on weather conditions and region of growth. In the middle lane, Sensation begins to bloom around mid-May. The duration of flowering averages 30-35 days. Flowers appear on the panicle not all at once, but one after another. Each panicle blooms for about 13-19 days, despite the fact that the life of each flower is 9-12 days. To get a great photo of the common lilac Sensation, it is best to choose the middle flowering period, when most of the flowers have already blossomed.
Features of reproduction
Each gardener year after year tries to increase the number of plants on his site. Traditionally, among the most common types of reproduction of lilac Sensation, there are:
- graft;
- cuttings;
- layering;
- seed reproduction.
Among these methods, cuttings are the most popular. As cuttings, annual green shoots with 4-5 leaves are used. The shoots are cut during the flowering period of the bush – at this time, the Sensation stops gaining green mass. For cutting cuttings, it is best to choose the youngest plant possible.
The cuttings are cut at an angle and treated with a special tool to accelerate the formation of roots – root. Seedlings are planted in greenhouses with high humidity. After 2-3 months, the plant releases roots and is ready for further planting.
Rules for planting lilac Sensation
Planting a Sensation is not difficult even for a novice gardener. At the same time, following the rules will allow you to get the most healthy plant. The most important thing is to observe the correct planting dates, choose the right place and soil, and also prepare planting pits in advance.
For each plant, it is necessary to dig a planting hole. The best size of the pit is a recess with sides of 50 cm and a depth of 70-80 cm. A layer of drainage from crushed stone or broken brick is laid out at the bottom of each pit.
Recommended dates
Planting seedlings of the common lilac Sensation is carried out either in spring or early autumn. The best time for planting are the first months of September. At this time, the grown seedlings are ready for wintering. Lilac grows best in cold weather, when the night temperature drops to 7-9 degrees.
If spring planting is planned, the ideal time is considered to be early to mid-April. The soil at this time has already thawed and warmed up well for the active development of the roots. You should not delay the landing – the longer the lilac gets used to the prepared place, the more difficult it can become for its first wintering.
Site selection and preparation of soil
Lilac prefers well-lit areas, so the southwestern slopes will be the best place to plant it. The more sun the plant receives in the spring, the more active its vegetation and flowering will be. Placed in shady areas, Sensation may completely refuse to bloom.
As for the soil, the plant takes root best in a neutral or alkaline environment. It is believed that the best soil for lilacs is clay soil with good drainage. If the environment is too acidic, additional fertilizers can be added to change the alkaline balance of the soil.
How to plant
Each seedling is placed in a pre-prepared planting hole. The root neck should be 2-3 cm above the ground level. Each hole is covered with prepared earth at the rate of 1 part of sand and sod land per 2 parts of leafy soil.
If the lilac is planted singly, then it is necessary to observe a distance of 2-3 m between each bush. If the Sensation is planted in a heap, then a larger hole is dug and 4-5 seedlings are planted in each of them. The alley way of planting in a row implies a distance between each of the bushes of 1-1,5 m.
It is also recommended to prepare fertilizers – 20 kg of compost, 300 g of wood flour, 30 g of superphosphate. All ingredients are mixed and about 2-3 kg of such bait is added under each bush. Each planted bush is watered with 10-15 liters of water. Such abundant watering well stimulates the rooting process. Moreover, if the planting is done in the fall, it is desirable to reduce the amount of watering, since the plant is almost ready for wintering.
Growing Lilac Sensation
Variety Sensation, like other varieties of lilacs, is unpretentious and not very demanding in care. Nevertheless, it is worth following some recommendations that will allow you to get the most healthy plant.
In order for the lilac to bloom profusely, it needs proper periodic watering and timely feeding with organic fertilizers. The soil needs to be mulched periodically. In addition, each plant in the garden needs to be cut correctly – this will improve the splendor of flowering and allow you to get a beautiful crown.
Watering
The first watering of lilac Sensation is carried out after direct planting in open ground. This watering is the most important for the seedling to take root. It is best to add a certain amount of root to the first watering to accelerate the development of the lilac root system.
The next watering is done when the soil around the lilac is completely dry. Sensation is a very moisture-loving lilac variety, so it is necessary that the soil around the plant is always moist. The most plentiful watering must be provided to the plant during the beginning of flowering.
Additional fertilizing
Lilac does not require a large amount of fertilizers and mineral supplements. The first feeding of the plant is carried out at the time of planting the seedlings. At the same time, they try to limit the use of chemical compounds. It is best to use cow dung. In cases where the soil is too acidic, a small amount of superphosphate is added.
Subsequent top dressing of lilac Sensation is made only 3 years after planting. In this case, it is best to limit yourself to organic fertilizers again. You can apply a small amount of complex mineral fertilizer for flowering shrubs.
Mulching
For each flower plant, loosening of the top layer of soil and additional mulching is necessary. Every spring, trunk circles are loosened with a chopper or hoe. After that, a layer of mulch is laid around the trunk – oak sawdust. The layer of mulch for lilacs is thinner than for other ornamental plants. A layer up to 4-6 cm high is best suited.
In addition to oak sawdust, you can use other materials – humus, needles or hay. Also, inorganic materials are used as mulch for lilac Sensation – small gravel, gravel or expanded clay.
Trimming
Lilac pruning occurs in 2 stages. The first pruning occurs in early spring. When the snow melts, it is necessary to carry out sanitary pruning. At this stage, shoots damaged in winter are removed.
The second pruning of the Sensation is done after the end of flowering in June. The plant is trimmed with brushes. This will ensure that the lilacs bloom abundantly next year. To form a beautiful crown, you can make additional pruning of lilacs. In the spring, before the buds swell, 6-7 main shoots are left for each bush. The remaining branches are removed.
Preparation for winter
Lilac Sensation perfectly tolerates cold. The winters of the middle lane are not terrible for her, so her branches do not require additional shelter. If the shrub is grown in more northern regions with prolonged frosts, it is best to cover it with a special cloth.
To prevent the roots from freezing during long frosts, a little more mulch is added to the tree trunks in the last months of autumn. Oak sawdust is best suited for lilacs – they perfectly absorb excess water, saving the plant from getting to the roots.
Diseases and pests
Despite the high immunity, lilac Sensation is still susceptible to some diseases. The biggest problems for the gardener are viral diseases – leaf spot, ring spot and mottle. In addition, the bushes are prone to fungal diseases:
- powdery mildew;
- brown spotting;
- withering.
Treatment from the presented diseases occurs with special antifungal agents. The preparations are diluted in water according to the instructions on the package and the plant is sprayed in the initial periods of the disease or for prevention purposes.
Among the pests, the most to be feared is a large number of caterpillars – they devour the leaves, thereby stopping the growth of green mass. It is also necessary to treat lilacs from digitalis moths and ticks.
Conclusion
Photos and descriptions of lilac Sensation will allow the gardener to choose the right plant for his garden. Subject to the correct planting conditions and regular care, the bushes will quickly gain weight and increase the number of flower ovaries. A healthy plant will decorate any site.