Forum home› Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

New lilac tree in a pot

hilaryljoneshilaryljones Posts: 1
in Plants
We bought a dwarf lilac tree through an offer in The Times, which came with no instructions or advice. Planted it into a large pot and it's doing well. It has a large lump near the top of the trunk suggesting it was produced by grafting. It has now grown a new branch near the bottom of the trunk whose leaves are completely different so presume it's a different type of tree. Should we cut this off?

Posts

  • Desi_in_LondonDesi_in_London Posts: 731
    suggest you attach a photo to confirm ( symbol 5th from right as you look at the menu bar of icons above the text box )  , but base case yes if what you bought was a grafted lilac standard  ( ie straight trunk then lilac growth at the top, then growth from below the graft is rootstock growth and should be removed.
    Kindness is always the right choice.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    edited May 2023
    Yes, cut off the growth from the rootstock and anything new that appears below the graft because that'll be something different (possibly privet, I think we had a previous question where someone's dwarf lilac had been taken over by it).
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    The root stock usually grows much more vigorously than the grafted material so if you don't remove it the bits you want can be out competed. 
Sign In or Register to comment.