A local arborist said the lilac tree in our backyard was one of the oldest he had ever seen. It’s fun for me to think of that tree as a little sapling in the backyard, back in the day when our neighbor’s new house was an empty lot still attached to our property. The old lady who used to live in our house had her garden planted over there. Although I believe lilacs only live for about twenty years or so, that tree has seen a lot of changes in this neighborhood.
Over the winter months I noticed a couple saplings sprouting up from the lilac tree’s roots. Being crafty and cheap, I saw a great opportunity to add some more lilacs to our landscape. I ended up replanting two of the saplings – one on the side of the house and one in the front yard. They are such lovely, low maintenance trees. The birds and bees seem
to love them. And I recall many May months with lilac blossoms on the kitchen table. Even back in my college days in Eugene, living a life of little structure, my friend Erika and I still had them fill the house in spring.
I am happy to report both of those little trees have taken root in their new digs and doing very well. I am not sure that I will get any blooms from them this year, but they are leafing out and look incredibly healthy and happy. Funny to think that I am breeding a multi generational forest here!
As I was strolling through the garden this weekend, I noticed a tree sprouting in the middle of the sheet mulched yard. I picked it up and saw a cracked chestnut attached to the bottom! It was so cool looking that I brought it inside. Later that day I found another one. I have a hard time throwing out anything that is alive, so I plopped them both into a glass of water. They have been a neat little plant arrangement.
Now that a few days have gone by, I need to decide what to do with them. I am actually thinking about just planting them on the side of the yard along the street. We have some awful, half-dead trees growing there and it would be pretty cool to replace them with chestnuts. Technically that is the city’s property, but since they haven’t gotten organized enough to even put sidewalks into our neighborhood I somehow doubt they will come remove the chestnut trees anytime soon.
Anyone see any issues with this? If not, I think I’ll plant them this weekend… It’s doubtful I will be living in this house twenty years from now when these little cracked chestnuts are lofty, wide-leafed giants. But I like the idea of future residents here thinking about the history of these trees like I often do of our lilac.
Spring bed prep, the soil-building way! 
Upgrade your hanging basket game! 
Here’s
This cluster was about the siz
I start with a
If you see and more Lilacs sprouting up around your old tree save them! I would love some lilacs in my yard. What color are they?
I found your blog in a random search of oregon garden blogs, and have been following your posts via Google Reader for several months now. I don’t think my wife would let me get chickens, but we are in the process of re-doing our backyard after we lost some old rotten apple trees.
I love lilacs! I don’t know much about them, but they do live longer than 20 years. I lived in an old gentleman’s lodge in Pennsylvania when I was little, and there was a lilac (and poison ivy) garden outside my window. I imagine those were well over 20 years old. My grandmother planted one in her yard in Colorado when they built her house in 1964, and it’s still going strong. It’s actually quite HUGE now. She’s not been able to take very good care of it for many years now, so it’s gotten out of control, and there are plenty of dead branches that need to be cut out. I would guess that it’s at least 15 feet in diameter at the base. I can’t wait till I own a place where I can plant lilacs! (and peonies)
you probably won’t get in trouble for planting the chestnuts, but you could check with friends of trees http://www.friendsoftrees.org to find out if it is the right kind of tree for your parking strip. also i think it is too late this year, but you could get on the list for one of their trees for next year – they sell discounted trees and help you plant them with the required city permit.
love your blog! thanks
Glad you guys are enjoying the blog!
Cameroda, my sister put in her dibs on any new sprouts from the lillac. But should there be a surplus, I will give you a shout!
Sara, you are right – lilacs live longer than 20 years. Not sure why I keep seeing that number as their lifespan on gardening sites, but I read something that said they can live for ever if they are well taken care of.
Ebd, thanks for listing their info! I have friends that have had great success with them and I like their system of getting a discounted tree if you help plant a couple more for them for other people’s houses. I might even list their info on my links page.