Monday, May 3, 2021

Prune lilacs soon after they bloom by Vicky Spelman

Courtesy Pixabay

The fragrance of lilacs is one of the most wonderful of springtime flowering shrubs. Lilacs are versatile flowering shrubs and can have a wide range of uses in the home garden from border plants, and windscreens to flowering hedges.

Spring-flowering shrubs bloom on one-year-old wood – the twigs and branches that grew new the previous summer.  The buds develop in midsummer through the fall for the following spring.  Pruning in the fall or winter will remove the blooms for next spring. 

Generally, lilacs produce more blooms on healthy, new growth rather than on the older stems.  

Courtesy Pixabay
 

Got your pruning shears ready?  

1. Prune to encourage flowering.  

2. Prune to direct shape

3. Prune to manage pests

Read about pruning spring flowering scrubs: https://cmg.extension.colostate.edu/Gardennotes/616.pdf