This helped me understand especially that I should only have two to three.

Jul 08, If you can't stand the look of your old lilac or you just want a quicker approach, you can take the drastic measure of cutting back the entire plant to about 6 to 8 inches above the ground in the early spring. Fertilize the plant with compost or a balanced fertilizer to prompt new growth. Apr 02, How to Prune Lilac Bushes. When pruning lilacs, cutting back the tops of overgrown stems is oftentimes not enough.

It is generally better to cut the entire stem. Trimming lilacs is best accomplished using clippers. Remove spent blooms all the way to the stems to prevent seeding and encourage more blooms later on. Cut back about a third of the branches. Jun 26, Timing is the Decisive Factor in Pruning Lilacs. If you want to have your blooms next year, it is crucial to prune in those first few weeks after blooming ends. Ideally, this is when you would do maintenance pruning each year.

But I get so lazy busy, I end up with a ten foot bush Estimated Reading Time: 4 mins. Home gardeners can choose between two different pruning methods. One way to renew a large, overgrown lilac is to cut the entire plant back to within 6 to 8 inches of the ground in late winter (March or early April).

Therefore as the bush gets older and older and puts out more and more new branches, since it blooms better on those newer branches, gradually the blooms are all way up high and unreachable to gather for bouquets.

This severe pruning will induce a large number. An older lilac tends to have few flowers, all of which grow on the tips of the longest branches, making those that are high hard to reach and enjoy. Those branches will respond to some aggressive.