Can I prune my lilacs down to the ground now that they bloomed?
by
Steve Dale
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I would not prune them down to the ground.Trim the shoots off the bottom and any branches that have gotten to large.
No just snap off the old blooms
The problem is they are about 15 years old and they are nearly 15 feet tall...would like them to be about 6 feet...so can I thin the old growth and cut them back to the desired height?
Yes you can cut the old canes down to the ground. It's recommended not to prune more than one third of a lilac bush per year.
My neighbor has a lilac that is taller than her house by my driveway. Due to indiscriminate pruning it comes out like an umbrella on top and is sparse on the bottom. I have let suckers grow up from the bottom to try to fill in the lower area the past three years, I even had some blooms from the older suckers. It is starting to look better each year as the smaller ones fill in. Please watch how you prune or you may not end up with a good looking shrub, and you may not get blooms due to pruning too far back. I am lucky my neighbor told me I could look after that small section on the east side of her house and do what I want.