I live in Tucson, AZ and have taken over care of my mom's potted Lilac. I recently took out all the suckers and deadwood, but don't know what to do from here. I know it needs to only have 3 or 4 trunks, but I don't know how to pick which ones to keep and which to chop. I also don't know how to prune the ones that will be left. I want to see it bloom next Spring. It has bloomed once upon a time, so it's not impossible Any experts out there who can tell me what to hack just from a photo??
What are you trying to achieve by pruning it? Other than taking out dead wood (and for a plant of that size, it's surprising there is any), it doesn't look like there's much left there to "prune" at all. Note that cutting off next spring's buds will mean no flowers.
Personally, I'd leave it alone, and let it sucker (as lilacs, particularly of the old types, naturally do) and with time, it may be able to take on the full, rounded shape that it should have.
I agree with Altagardener......
WHY do you need to prune anything on this small Lilac bush???
Did someone tell you you should? Why? Leave it alone!!!
Suckers would have evolved into new stems that would bloom in a few years.
You cut them all off!!!!
Gita
I would prune every fall or spring to limit the number of live trunks to something divisible by 3 - probably 9 or 12 would be my choice I would leave the 9 or 12 trunks that allow the most even use of space - IOW - so they are as evenly spaced as possible. Once the planting got to the size at which I'd like to maintain it, I would automatically remove the 3 largest trunks and keep 3 suckers that best contribute to the even distribution of trunks, removing the rest of the suckers that sprouted in the growth cycle previous. This is a basic plan for cyclic rejuvenation.
Very important to the well being of the planting and the amount of vitality it can/will display is how you maintain the roots. Potting up ensures the limitations associated with root congestion in the largest part of the root mass are always restricting the plants growth and vitality. Full repots, which include root pruning to remove larger and all problem roots ensures the lifting of all restrictions imposed by root congestion - until approximately the next point in time when the root/soil mass can be lifted from the pot intact. At that point, root congestion again begins to impact growth and vitality and it's time to repot when it's next appropriate (spring - at or just before budswell).
If you plan on making a long-term project out of this plant, this tool might prove very useful:
If the picture didn't come out clear/large enough, do a search for bonsai knob cutter.
Al
This message was edited Nov 1, 2015 6:15 PM
Lilacs are supposed to be pruned just after they bloom. This allows them to regrow a little after the cuts you made, and set new bloom buds for the following spring. If you prune them in late winter or early spring, you will undoubtedly cut off some bloom buds. It won't hurt the plant AT ALL, but you will lose some blooms.
I'm an advocate for pruning Lilacs if you can because if let go they can go crazy. We had a couple varieties that were supposed to be dwarfs (Miss Kim, and Pablin or how ever it was spelled), and let me tell you after about 10 years they became overgrown and not very dwarf at all. I used to do the same and cut out the suckers, but I missed one year, and things went down hill fast. After that, I couldn't tackle it anymore. So unfortunately we had to pull them out with a tractor. I miss their fragrance and show, but I don't think I'll miss all the sneezing.
