When is the best time to trim lilic bushes?

Question

I bought a new house and the lilic bushes are very over ran. I am not sure when or how to trim them, and get them looking nice. I also want them to have alot of blooms.

Answer 1

Lilacs bloom on the new wood, so the spring blooms are already set in the fall. Once they have finished blooming this spring, prune away but know that next year is likely to have fewer flowers-but that's a small price to pay for future years of tidy looking bushes.

Lilacs are usually a little 'natural' looking, not a good one for topiary or hedge style pruning. We have a lilac garden nearby that has lilac trees--just a regular lilac that has not been pruned short and had the smaller side branches removed. I have mine on a side yard and let them go only pruning the tips every few years to thicken them into shrubs.

I have seen lilacs cut really hard come back in a few years, but I would recommend you don't take out more than 1/3 of each bush per year. Our neighbor moved into their house and whacked a 14 foot high lilac bush to the ground and it is coming back, but slowly.

Lilacs don't like soil that is really acidic, so no peat moss mulch or soil amendments. They really like a sprinkle of lime now and then if you have acid soil. Since most rain is a little acidic, the more rain you get, the more acidic your soil is likely to be.

When spring comes and the lilacs bloom, feel free to cut some and bring them into the house. But before you put them in water, take a hammer and smash the ends of the stems. Since they are woody stems, this will allow them to take in more water and last longer.

Good luck and enjoy your new yard.

Answer 2

You can clean them up by removing all the spent blossoms/seed pods. Lilacs are supposed to be pruned right after they bloom, but it won't hurt to do some clean up pruning now. Remove dead wood and crossing branches. The reason you prune immediately after they flower is so that you get more blossoms.So after this years bloomtime, do some more pruning.
If they are way huge, you might consider taking them back about a third this year, then take a look next year after they bloom, remove the spent blossoms, or better yet pick yourself a few nice bouquets. If they are still really big take another third. The theory behind that advice is for things that are way out of hand needing a gradual pruning.

Answer 3

Bluestock is correct....except that Lilac form "seed-heads" after they are done blooming...If you wait till all the flowers are finished you will se the seeds beginning to form. It is at that point that they can be trimmed. If you remove the seed heads, that portion of the branch will divide into sort of a fork like shape and produce twice the amount of flowers next year. You can reshape your plant/bush at that time and also improve the flower "show" for next year if it's done properly. If you trim more than 1/3 of the bush, you run a serious risk of killing it because of shock and bleeding that happens when you trim a lilac. Lilacs are worth the effort of trimming as it's about all the maintinence they need. ( and the spring smell is spectacular!) They respond well to pruning as long as it's not too severe. Also Lilacs usually don't need to be fertilized or "messed with" too much . They are a great beginner plant/bush and can survive almost anywhere.
Be patient and they will respond and be spectacular!

Answer 4

the only time you should prune live wood is immediately after flowering.if you prune in late summer,fall, winter, or early spring, you will have few blooms. dead wood can be removed at any time. for the most bloom possible remove as many of the dead flower clusters as you can each year after they are dried up. its more important with lilacs to prune in order to thin the bush out rather than to remove height from it. when you prune, remember to cut the branch right back to the point where it has a union with another, larger branch, as it will only begin new growth at a bud union point. Use a very sharp saw for branches larger than 1/2 inch diameter, and good sharp pruners for smaller. you can also make the shrub look a lot neater by removing all the "suckers", which are shoots that come out of the ground from the roots all around the main trunks of the shrub. once you have them removed you can periodically set your mower on the lowest setting and mow a circle around the base trunks.

Answer 5

after they bloom this spring, prune out 1/3 of all DEAD or OLD WOODY limbs.

no more than that.

repeat this each year until the dead and old woody branches are gone

if you have time and a lot of patience, you want to cut off the dead blooms each year. use a good quality sharp pruner.

you will have a pretty lilac in just a few years.

Answer 6

The best time to prune them is right after they bloom in the spring: http://www.gardenersnet.com/lilac/lilac02.htm

Answer 7

i trime my lilacs and other shrubs trees around may the fivetenth here in new brunswick canada.

Answer 8

does this question have a hidden meaning?