Disease and nutrient treatments - Ask Extension
We recently purchased a house and inherited a beautiful perennial garden that includes two beautiful Lilac trees and three small cherry trees. The pre...
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Disease and nutrient treatments #895000
Asked March 20, 2025, 5:18 PM EDT
We recently purchased a house and inherited a beautiful perennial garden that includes two beautiful Lilac trees and three small cherry trees. The previous owners paid a service to come annually to treat these trees against foliar diseases as well as a series of nutrient treatments. The Lilacs survived a bit of blight last fall. However with the high cost, we wondering how necessary these treatments are or if perhaps there DIY options to achieve the same results. We love our plants and would hate to jeopardize their health. Thanks in advance for your help.
Ramsey County Minnesota
Expert Response
I suggest that you review the following web pages and become educated on how to care for your trees and shrubs. Nutrients as in fertilizer may not be needed. Spraying for Spotted Wing Drosphilla may be needed for the cherry trees if you want to harvest any fruit. Those are things you could do yourselves with products purchased from a nursery or hardware store.
https://extension.umn.edu/trees-and-shrubs/lilacs
https://extension.umn.edu/fruit/growing-stone-fruits-home-garden
Any gardening question you may have, may be answered by doing an online search "subject.edu" The edu suffix will lead you to research based information usually from state extension offices.
https://extension.umn.edu/trees-and-shrubs/lilacs
https://extension.umn.edu/fruit/growing-stone-fruits-home-garden
Any gardening question you may have, may be answered by doing an online search "subject.edu" The edu suffix will lead you to research based information usually from state extension offices.