Starts from lilacs?

[grandmajoy]

Can you get starts off mature lilacs? What would you use, the new starts, or do you try to get an established section, and how do you separate them without damaging them? I have a wonderful lilac hedge and I would like to transplant some starts to the property where I'm building. does any one have any ideas on the best way to do this?

[shadowwalker]

I don't know if it's right but this is how I have done them and many others.
Take a opaque one gallon milk or water or juice jug. Cut it all the way around it, about three and a half inches from the bottom. Next I fill the bottom to about 1/2 an inch from the top with a mixture of 2 parts perolite 1 part peat moss 1 part gardensoil mix. You will need softwood rooting hormone powder. (A general hormone rooting powder will do if in a pinch)
I use the green ends off the limbs with out flowers. Cut them on a angle just below a bud. Put them in water asap, I cut one cutting for about every 3/4 square inch of container space. That is about 20 to 30 in container. For me. Once I have them in the water for a few minutes I put them in the rooting hormone. Lightly shake the powder off. I then put them in the holes in the mixture I made with a pencil. Careful not to scrape off the hormone dust. Pat the soil back around the cuttings.
Keep the soil moist not wet. Put the top of the jug back on, it will slide over the lips of the bottom. This will make you a small greenhouse. I set mine in the indirect sunlight by a window. Put the cap back on the jug also. I check mine by looking in the cap. You will see green leaves in a few weeks. I give the cutting about 6 to 8 weeks, take the top off and let the bottom sit. Keep it moist for a few more weeks. The the sprouts are ready to plant.
I got the idea from www.freeplants.com only they used a 10 gallon aquarium. I also have one of these, I have raised many hardwood, softwood, bushes, grapes with it. Some do good, some don't. That's how it goes, sometimes. I have done old fashioned lilacs this way.