Rejuvenating a lilac

Peadar

This nearly died in a summer drought a couple of years ago. It survived, but has a few dead branches in the centre. Obviously they should be removed. But how hard can the rest of it be pruned, and when is the best time to do it? 

Borderline

After flowering, you can start pruning. Remove the dead branches first, and prune quite far down. Other branches, you can reduce some, but not always necessary. There may be less flowering next year on the hard pruned branches, but sometimes, this is needed to keep the whole shrub fresh so that new branches grow.

Peadar

Thank you both 

Peadar

philippa smith2 said:

It may also pay you to clear the grass away from the base.

Yes, it's a bit of mess. Grass and weeds. Needs a good tidy, it's on my list. I was looking earlier, and in amongst the grass there are some suckers. Should I remove them or allow to grow? 

foxwales

You can prune these hard.  Take it down to a ft above ground, you'll have lots of nice fresh growth next year.