Lilac bushes stop blooming?

Question

I have lilac bushes along one side of my yard & they haven't bloomed in many years now. Does anyone have an explaination/theory as to why? How about something to fix this for next year? The bushes seem to be healthy otherwise, just no flowers!! thank you!

Answer 1

The part that is not booming may not be lilacs anymore. Lilacs are often grafted onto privet hedge rootstock. The problem is that after a while the privet starts sending up sprouts that kind of look like lilacs. Most of what you are looking at may be those sprouts not the original lilacs.

Try cutting down all of the sprouts (thinner than the original lilac bushes and coming out of the ground further than where the lilacs originated). Then prune the lilac bushes back to encourage new growth for the flowers to appear on. Give it a year or so for results to show up.

Answer 2

My family used to have a Very Large lilac bush in our yard, until my dad decided it was to big and cut about 2/3 of it off. Then we found out that lilacs can be healthy with out blooming. A lilac will only get blooms on 'mature wood', which means if you trim back your lilac every year, it won't bloom.
my mom asked around, and was told by the local nursery that you should leave at least 2/3 of the bush untouched each time you trim, so that you will still have blooms.

If you haven't been trimming your lilac, then the answers others have left might be of help. But since no one had mentioned trimming, I thought I would add my two cents.

Answer 3

Please think about these two questions. First how are you sure they are Lilac Bushes? Second, a person walks past you on the street looking fit and healthy but are they?
I will assume that in the past you have seen Lilac Blooms and the beautiful scent they bring. These are true landscaping dreams, when in the right location, and a nightmare when not. Are the plants in full sun and fed each year with a minimum of fertilizer? Have they been pruned after each flowering, or better yet, have they been pruned in the fall to make them look like a hedge!
A Lilac is like a Forsythia in nature. It needs both open ground and full sun to survive. The flowering of both will depend on the care it gets. You allow the plant to grow as it will, prune only after the flowering wilts, and the next year it shows it's color as more splendid than before. Hit it with a hedge trimmer in summer or fall and good-bye next years flowers.
Plantings, like all of mankind (unfortunately), also have a life span. There are trees, like people, that live a hundred or more years. Plants, like us, sometimes do not live that long.
A Dogwood tree, for example, will be healthy for thirty to thirty-five years then become a haven for pest. Our plantings have a life-span as well. Whereas we tend to put our family in Nursing Homes and say farewell there is a time to also say farewell to our plants.
If you have had no blooms, and it is in fact a Lilac, the plant is telling you it is in trouble. If you have tried to train it as a hedgerow you have defeated it's purpose. If you have left it alone, aside from removal of the flowers and deadwood, you have a real problem.
If it is in fact a Lilac, go two foot from the dripline of the existing planting. From this point remove any and all grass or vegetation. At the two foot point make a eight to ten inch trough in the soil. At six week intervals spread a 10-10-10-with minerals granular fert. from the dripline to the trench. The plant will need 1" of water deeply watered (once a week) adjusted for rainfall per week. To help retard and prevent disease mulch with a shred. Cyprus or Redwood Mulch up to three inches from the base of the plant at two inch level.
In the fall (Columbus Day) add some Bone Meal to your final application of fert. Water this application in immediately. By next May the plant either comes back or it does not. You have left it alone, watered, fert, additives. You will have either bloom or gloom. No blooms yank them without thinking twice. Hope it Helps, although I doubt it does.
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Answer 4

Make sure it gets enough sun and water, firstly. Nitrogen products (like manure) will make leaves grow. Bone meal sprinkled around and dug in a bit (so dogs and racoons don't steal it) will make it bloom better. Lilacs are a wonderful plant that once established will be very durable. It does take 2 or 3 years to get established, though, so don't give up on it. While it appears to be doing nothing on top of the ground it's growing roots and becoming strong underground. Next year may be it's first really good just naturally.

Answer 5

I would try some fertilizer. I'm not sure what kind to use, but if you ask someone at your local nursery or garden center, they can help you. Good luck! Lilacs are my favorite!

Answer 6

Short and Sweet ....Bone Meal them.