Ann wrote in
:

enigma expounded:

and if i have to cut back hard a lilac, is that best done
right after bloom? this thing is 15' tall with 5-6"
diameter trunks. i want it a bit shorter... like no more
than 8'. lee

Yes, wait til it blooms next spring. One caution, is it
sending up any suckers from the roots?

lots of suckers from the roots. i cut the ones that grow up
between the rock steps & on the garden bed side. the goats &
llamas eat any that sprout up on the pasture side of the
fence.
actually, come to think of it, i'm not sure if the suckers
are from the white or the purple... but both need to be
shorter. they're rather entwined where they are, & i'm pretty
sure they were originally planted there in the 1920s, but it
could have been as early as the mid-1800s...
do lilacs respond to layering as a propagation method?
lee

--
Question with boldness even the existence of god; because if
there be
one, he must more approve the homage of reason than that of
blindfolded
fear. - Thomas Jefferson