"limey" wrote in message
...
I posted this earlier in another thread, with no response. Perhaps
someone
could help? TIA.

Our lilac bush has been planted for
quite a few years (7 or 8) and this is the first year of prolific bloom.
I
do have questions, though. There's a heavy undergrowth of new shoots -
should these be removed at (or below) ground level, or even removed at all
because they will replace old growth - and when (and if) should old growth
be removed to encourage flowering?

flowering seems to be primarily on second season branches. We lived with
this a few years, but the flowering occurrec higher and higher each year
until we finally realized that to keep it fairly low (if this is desirable
for one) cut the heck out of the old growth and encourage the lower, even
suckers sometimes, branches. (now most flowering is less than four or five
feet tall...... was ten or twelve, with bare leaves on lower limbs.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!
Lynn