How To Prune A Lilac Bush

The way you prune your lilac bush will also depend on how you like your lilac bush shaped.

How to prune a lilac bush. Pruning lilacs is an important step in assuring theyll bloom well for you. Nip off the long stems. Remove the old wood every year. Search for dead or.

Generally old branches are woody and hard. You might need a sharp saw to cut them down. Is also a right and a wrong time. A second way to prune old lilacs is to cut back the overgrown shrubs over a three year period.

Begin the procedure by removing one third of the large old stems at ground level in late winter. This technique will cause more branching and create a denser shrub. Pruning of the old flowers shoots suckers runners and leaves aid in better aeration of the lilac plant and also promote new growth on it. Trimming lilacs is best accomplished using clippers.

Some people like a wide lilac bush while others prefer to keep theirs shorter and smaller in circumference. Remove the spent bloom along with the flower stem with your clippers. It is generally better to cut the entire stem. Doing an annual pruning 1.

This means pruning just beyond buds that face away from the center of the plant. When pruning lilacs cutting back the tops of overgrown stems is oftentimes not enough. This will keep the plant from growing. Cut fresh flowers in the spring.

Remove the old wood. Finally if you want your lilac to fill in more and become shrubbier prune the remaining new stems to an outward facing bud. How to prune lilac bushes. The following year again in late winter prune out one half of the remaining old stems.

Feel free to remove sucker shoots that sprout up from the roots a couple feet from the main bush. There definitely is a right and a wrong way to prune a lilac bush. Prune remaining new stems. Also thin out some of the new growth.

Trim these off at soil level. Remove spent blooms all the way to the stems to prevent seeding and encourage more blooms later on. How to prune a lilac bush duration. Most importantly prune or trim back your bush immediately after they are done blooming.

Take a look at your lilac bush or tree and assess whether there are any extra long but. Look for spindly twig like growth that hasnt produced many blooms such as branches cluttering the growth near the center of the bush.