I bought a property that has 7 large lilac bushes (several different
varieties). My problem is that the previous owner never pruned them.
Now these plants consist of long woody stems that go up 6 to 8 feet
with flowering blooms all across the top and no blooms below 6 feet.

Question: if I prune these bushes back to six feet, can I expect any
blooms at all next year ( I don't even know where the blooms would come
from because there is nothing but long woody branch-like stalks from
ground to 6 feet)?

Should I start over and cut them down to ground and try to get new
growth that way?

Thank you for replies. Bruce

On 11/7/06 10:03 AM, in article
, "Bruce"
wrote:

I bought a property that has 7 large lilac bushes (several different
varieties). My problem is that the previous owner never pruned them.
Now these plants consist of long woody stems that go up 6 to 8 feet
with flowering blooms all across the top and no blooms below 6 feet.

Question: if I prune these bushes back to six feet, can I expect any
blooms at all next year ( I don't even know where the blooms would come
from because there is nothing but long woody branch-like stalks from
ground to 6 feet)?

Should I start over and cut them down to ground and try to get new
growth that way?

Thank you for replies. Bruce



Regional wisdom is to cut out about a third of the oldest (and there for
biggest) trunks at ground level. Don't take any more than a third, wait a
year and do it again in the fall.



Cheryl
In NH where the lilac is the state flower.

Prune them 1/3 at a time and let the suckers come up.

Derryl



I bought a property that has 7 large lilac bushes (several different
varieties). My problem is that the previous owner never pruned them.
Now these plants consist of long woody stems that go up 6 to 8 feet
with flowering blooms all across the top and no blooms below 6 feet.

Question: if I prune these bushes back to six feet, can I expect any
blooms at all next year ( I don't even know where the blooms would come
from because there is nothing but long woody branch-like stalks from
ground to 6 feet)?

Should I start over and cut them down to ground and try to get new
growth that way?

Thank you for replies. Bruce