We’ve been picking away at the yard here and there doing some damage control, but it has not been our focus this summer. It will likely take multiple years to wrangle, as it looks to have had many years of neglect and was completely overgrown when we moved in.
One priority, however, that we wanted to focus on was planting a lilac hedge before winter. We both love lilacs and have fond memories of lilacs at grandparents’ houses. Also, there is currently an unoccupied historic building next door, and while it is well kept, its end purpose is very unclear. Whatever transpires, we feel the need to have some privacy and to delineate our property.
We found a great deal on 2.5 quart Yankee Doodle lilacs (they are dark purple and grow to be 6-8’ feet tall and wide) and ordered 18 of them. Fall planting is apparently ideal if the plants are in before frost, and it’s been a very warm fall so we are hoping our timing is good.
The plants arrived early and the boxes a little crushed, but no worse for wear and they looked extremely healthy.
We dove in on Sunday evening with Kevin digging and measuring and me doing the planting.
We realized once we finished that we need two more plants to really round out the hedge in the way we would like (you can see below that it ends a bit shorter from the sidewalk than we planned).
It is so exciting to see the lilac babies planted and I can’t wait to watch them grow.
18 lilac plants: $344
I can only imagine the heavenly smell once they bloom!
I believe you will treasure and thoroughly enjoy your efforts to landscape. As an insufferable dendrophile, I hope you have at least one tree planting project in your near future. With fall coloration upon us and the benefits of shade in the summer, a deciduous tree would offer abundant joy and comfort. Saplings are inexpensive.
Keep them watered until it freezes. What glorious aromas you will have 🤩