Lilac pruning advice needed

Hello all,

When we bought our new home in 2009, this lilac had barely any blooms. I've been deadheading it faithfully, and even cut it back a bit in 2010. This year's bloom is the best so far, but I'm concerned about how it's growing. I've got growth and blooms springing out from the point at which I cut it back, but the rest of the plant is really scraggly, without leaves.

I'd like to encourage it to have a more compact, bushy growth. I was thinking about pruning it back fairly hard...at least 1/3 on each cane, but that would mean they would have almost no leaves. The plant only has 6 canes...I've not seen any new growth from the base of the plant at all.

Do you think I should cut each growth back by 1/3, even though I'd be cutting off most of the leaves? Do you think this plant could become bushier, or do I just have to live with this as it is? Would you recommend doing something different?

Sorry for the poor quality photo...it's hard to isolate it from the surrounding plants.

TIA,
Katherine

Cut a third of the plant back severely this year, another third next year, and the last third the next year.
You won't be sacrificing flowers in any of the years and at the end will have a totally rejuvenated plant.

Thanks for your prompt response!

Just to make sure I understand...should I prune back EACH cane by 1/3, or should I prune back 2 out of the 6 of the CANES back hard?

And if its the second, how hard should I cut them back?

Finally, this is ok to do even though it would mean I'd cut down further than I currently have leaves?

Sorry for such simplistic questions...

If it was me- I would prune two of the six limbs back hard, like to eight inches or so- well below where the leaves start.
Then next year after blooming repeat with two more limbs, then do the last ones the third year.
My mom has a row of maybe 20 lilacs that had been untouched for a decade and were all leggy and bare- I did the three year plan on them and now they are all filled out and look amazing.

If you want to you can do the whole plant at one go- it just won't look good the rest of this year while it fills back out and depending on timing you may lose next years blooms. The "three year" approach allows you to do just as hard a prune but you get foliage and next years blooms without interruption.

Either way you choose it will do fine- they are very resilient plants and a good prune like this stimulates them.
It's just a question of whether you want to do it all at once and suffer an eyesore for a bit or stretch it out and have a better looking plant during the interim.

Just to second Cearbhaill's opinion, I watched a hedge of lilacs on a main street in my town. One year they totally cut it down to about 8" and it came right back. Can't remember exactly when it started flowering again, but it didn't take long.

Thanks both, you've been very helpful. I've read books and watched utube videos, but everything seemed to deal with really overgrown plants that didn't look anything like mine.

What should I do with the rest of the plant? Should I do anything more than just deadheading the blooms?

This is timely...it's almost done blooming, so I will be pruning next week.

Katherine

I've also found this very helpful as I have a large heritage Lilac that's in bloom that fell over in a snowfall years ago. How do I best address all the suckers? I cut them at soil level and it seems to promote more.

Remember that lilacs flower on old wood, not new; if you prune lilacs, it'll be a long time till you get any flowers again, while the plant is maturing its regrowth branches.

When my parents pruned theirs, it didn't flower again for 7 years.

Resin

Maybe the people that trample through the garden to rip off flowering branches won't be so motivated anymore. :-)