It has seven or eight thick old trunks that have been chopped off about 3 to 4 feet up, giving it the appearance of a bundle of wood. I have only seen one flower on it in the four springs we have been here. After much pulling of hair and gnashing of teeth (and research), I decided to "start over" with the lilac. This time of year is perfect for lilac rejuvenation:
Here is the lilac bush now (with a visitor who loves the camera and wouldn't stay away). I removed ALL of the thick, old stems with a sharp pruning saw. This is NOT recommended if you would like lilac blooms anytime in the next three years, as it takes three years for a stem to produce flowers. If your lilac is in better health/structure than mine, I would recommend taking off 1/3 of the branches each year right after blooming instead of this drastic haircut.
Hopefully, my lilac bush will become a contributing member of our backyard garden now. Lilacs can be beautiful bushes!
10 comments:
We had 7 or 8 huge overgrown lilac bushes when we purchased our home. R cut them down to about 5 inches with a chainsaw. In 3 years they were full, blooming, and almost 10 ft tall.
I love lilacs.
My experience with my damn lilac is when you cut it back, It will grow back bigger than ever, so I doubt you will have any problems with yours.
I discovered lilac shoots in the side yard that had been mowed down for years by the PO. I let them grow and now have a forest of 20' tall white lilacs.
3 years? We'll be patiently waiting for the update.
I love lilacs. My mom has a row of them at the back of her property and I'm hoping to plant some shoots at my own house.
I love lilacs!!! They smell great!!!
I love lilacs! They smell like spring, which I wish would hurry up and get here.
I'm on the third year of removing 33% of my lilac branches. The first year they protested, the second year they bloomed lightly. I think this year they are in the groove and should bloom ok. Good luck w/ yours!
Thanks for the lilac bush photos. I too have a house with a lilac bush the PO neglected. The THICK stalks made me think it was a tree! so i guess i will cut 1/3 of the thick stuff down after it done blooming. Thanks again!
Sincerely,
1893 colonial south of Boston :)
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