Pruning and shaping a lilac regularly can help prevent it from being overgrown. Done carefully, you can prune without sacrificing flowers.The information on this page will help you learn how to prune lilacs.
Pruning and shaping a lilac regularly can help prevent it from being overgrown. Done carefully, you can prune without sacrificing flowers.The information on this page will help you learn how to prune lilacs.
Expertvillage: Gardening Tips : How to Prune a Lilac Bush
This 2 minute video comes from Yolanda Vanveen in Washington, a third generation sustainable gardener. She is in her garden and shows us how to trim lilac bushes. She covers when to trim, deadwood, tips and tools. This is an easy to listen to video.
Introduction
- Lilacs are one of spring's most amazing flowers. Beautiful to look at, and wonderfully scented, they enhance any landscape. Lilacs don't need to be pruned every year, but periodically shaping the plant can help you ensure that there are always blooms where you can reach them.
Step 1: Understand Lilacs
- Lilacs form next year's flowers during and after the current year's blooming season. To encourage more blooms, remove dead flowers by snapping each one off just under the flower stem.
Step 2: When to Prune Lilacs
- Lilacs bloom on the previous year's growth, so any pruning for height should be done immediately after they've finished blooming. If the lilac is very overgrown, and needs drastic pruning, you'll want to remove older stalks at the base. This should be done while the plant is dormant (during November, December, January or February) in order to minimize stress to the plant.
Step 3: How to Prune Lilacs
Lilacs should be shaped such that the outer branches are lower than the center ones. Don't remove more than 1/3 of a stalk during the growing season.
