shaefins
Senior Member
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2010 7:17 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, 6A

Questions about pruning

My ex hacked a lilac by the garage several years ago. I didn't think much of it, as it grows mainly on the side of the garage that faces the neighbor's yard. I noticed that it bloomed this spring, however, which I was very happy to see. It quickly was over run by honeysuckle vine though. Last night, I carefully unwound the honeysuckle and pulled what I could out of the ground. My lilac isn't as full as I thought it was the last year or two. Apparently, a lot of the foliage I saw was really the honeysuckle.

How should I go about pruning the lilac now? It's not one main trunk, but rather *lots* of stems coming out of the ground in an area that's maybe 3 or 4 sq'. I'd say most are about 1/2 to 1" thick, if that. The leaves don't start on any of them until about two feet off the ground. I also noticed some powdery mildew type of stuff on the leaves of some of the branches. Thinking I should just cull those?

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rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Lilac bushes are very prone to powdery mildew, but for them it is mainly a cosmetic issue and doesn't really hurt the shrub any. My huge old lilac shrub gets it every season by this time of year, but comes back just fine and blooms profusely the next year.

If you want to rejuvenate your lilac, cut some of the older, less productive stems off at ground level; no more than 1/3 of the stems each year. Best time to do this is right after it is finished blooming.



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