With a light-flooded crown, the blossom wood in the lilac tree remains vital for up to 20 years. Reason enough to thin out old, dead and bare wood every few years. These instructions get to the point when and how to properly cut standard lilacs.

Cleaning faded flowers is a purely cosmetic measure and must be carried out with great care

The best time to cut is in late winter

The optimal time window for a thinning cut on the lilac tree opens in late winter. When the leafless hibernation is coming to an end, even older specimens tolerate a regulating cut within the crown. Choose a dry, cloudy day with temperatures above freezing.

Thin out the treetop - this is how it works

Over the years, the crown of the lilac tree develops into a network of old and young branches. Without an occasional pruning, the shoots shade each other. As a result, the middle of the crown becomes bare, while branches of the outer sectors become frustrated with unsightly ramifications. By performing a thinning cut every three to four years, you prevent the nuisance. Here’s how to do it professionally:

  • Saw off dead, bare branches on the Astring
  • Cut back laterally growing and other disturbing shoots by up to two thirds
  • Tie down or cut off taut upright shoots
  • Remove the weaker branches from branches that are too close together

If you are struggling with overly long shoots protruding from the crown shape, a derivation cut solves the problem. Instead of pruning on a bud, choose a young side shoot that faces outward as the pruning point. Lilacs are most beautiful on one- and two-year-old branches, so that thanks to a derivation there is no gap in the crown image and this year's flowering is not affected.

Clean out faded flowers

The most common reason for a cut on the lilac tree is withered flower candles. If you perceive the dead lilac blossoms as a disruptive factor, there is nothing to be said against a light pruning at the end of the flowering period. The cut requires a good sense of proportion, because the blossom wood for next year's lilac blossom is already forming underneath withered blossoms.

Get a pair of sharp, clean pruning shears with a bypass mechanism. Place the blades below a faded panicle, a short distance from a pair of leaves.

Remove runners and stem shoots

The most beautiful lilac trees thrive as a combination of a robust trunk of a wild species and a noble crown. Apart from the manifold advantages, such a refinement is associated with the growth of numerous offshoots and stem shoots.

Stay on the heels of the Wildlings as soon as possible. The strong-growing wild shoots can be recognized by a different leaf shape than the crown leaves. Tear off root suckers with a firm jerk to remove as much tissue as possible. Cut off the odd stem shoots just before the bark.

tips

Have you inherited an old lilac tree or senile lilac bush? Then you can bring the ornamental wood into shape with a rejuvenation cut. At an advanced age, lilacs easily get over the radical type of cut if you spread the measure over three years.

Category:

Trees