On Jul 15, 1:45 pm, "Goldlexus" wrote:
My cal. lilac is turning brownish. I have never had to water it during the
summer and it has always been very green a lovely all season long. This year
it is starting to turn a brownish color and looks like it has lost a lot of
leaves. Our neighbors sprinkler system has a leak and was leaking well over
a week before they turned it off. The didn't even know it was leaking, duh,
I had to go over and tell them. The neighbor still hasn't fixed their leak,
they just turn their sprinkler system on/off manually but have forgotten it
last week for 2 days. Our property got the run off from the leak right where
my lilac is. Would too much water cause this? Well it rebound?


Yes, it could very well be the problem. Calif. Lilac, Ceannothus
species,
needs to have perfect drainage and dry soil in the summer. If it has
been
soaking wet for several days/weeks it has probably developed root rot.
If you can keep it dry from now on, it may recover, but maybe not.
Some cultivars and more tolerant of water than others, but that
sounds
like a lot of water for a long time............not good.
I hope it recovers; there is no blue like that of a ceanothus.
Emilie
NorCal