Lilacs thrive in fertile, humus-rich, well-draining, neutral to alkaline soil (at a pH near 7.0). If your soil is in poor condition, mix in compost to enrich it. (Learn more about soil amendments and preparing the soil for planting.) Choose or prepare a site that drains well. Poor drainage or pooling water can cause “wet feet,” potentially leading to root rot, stunted growth, and/or failure to flower. Test soil drainage by digging a hole 8 inches in diameter and 12 inches deep. Fill it with water; if it does not drain within an hour, choose another spot.

For the best blooms, lilacs should be planted in full sun, which is defined as at least 6 hours of sunlight each day. Given less, they will not flower as well.

How to Plant Lilacs

If you’re lucky, a friend will give you a sucker, or offshoot, of the root system of one of their plants. The sucker will look pathetic at first, but dig a hole, backfill it with soil, and stick the sucker in. Then, water and wait. In 4 or 5 years, you’ll be rewarded with huge, fragrant blossoms.
Transplanting nursery-bought lilacs is also easy. If it’s container-grown, spread out the roots as you settle the plant into the ground; if it’s balled or burlapped, gently remove the covering and any rope before planting. Set the plant 2 or 3 inches deeper than it grew in the nursery and work topsoil in around the roots—then water in. Then, fill in the hole with more topsoil.
Space multiple lilac bushes 5 to 15 feet apart, depending on the variety.

Growing

Each spring, apply a layer of compost under the plant, followed by mulch to retain moisture and control weeds.
Water during the summer if rainfall is less than 1 inch per week.
Lilacs won’t bloom if they’re overfertilized. They can handle a handful of 10-10-10 in late winter, but no more.
After your lilac bush has finished blooming, spread some lime and well-rotted manure around the base. Trim the bush to shape it and remove suckers at the same time.

How to Prune Lilacs

Lilacs bloom on old wood, so it’s critical to prune in the spring right after they bloom. If you prune later in the summer, you may be removing the wood. Note: If your lilac flower clusters are getting smaller over a few years, it’s time to prune!
Every year after bloom, remove any dead wood. Prune out the oldest canes (down to the ground). Remove the small suckers. Cut back weak branches to a strong shoot. Cut back tall canes to eye height.
The ideal lilac shrub has about 10 canes. If your lilac is old and in really bad shape, remove one-third of the oldest canes (down to the ground) in year 1, half of the remaining old wood in year 2, and the rest of the old wood in year 3. Another option for old lilacs is to chop the whole thing back to about 6 or 8 inches high. It sounds drastic, but lilacs are very hardy. The downside to this option is that it takes a few years to grow back. The upside is less work and more reward, as the lilac will grow back, bursting with blooms.
It must be recognized that severe pruning results in the loss of blooms for 1 to 3 years. For these reasons, a wise pruning program aims to avoid severe and drastic cuts by giving the bushes annual attention.
Good Sucker Sense: Gertrude Jekyll, the 19th-century no-nonsense English horticulturist (1843–1932), advocated a strenuous exercise: “When taking away suckers … it is better to tear them out than to cut them off. A cut, however close, leaves a base from which they may always spring again, but if pulled or wrenched out, they bring away with them the swollen base.”

Types

For early flowers, try Syringa x hyacinthiflora hybrids; they bloom 7 to 10 days before S. vulgaris. Its fragrant blooms attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

The most common and fragrant lilacs are of the S. vulgaris variety:

Try ‘Charles Joly’, a double magenta flower, an early bloomer.
Mid-season lilacs include ‘Monge’, a dark reddish purple, and ‘Firmament’, a fine blue.
Late-season beauties include ‘Miss Canada’, a reddish-pink, and ‘Donald Wyman’, a pink-purple flower.

Uncommon types/varieties include …

S. x ‘Penda’ Bloomerang Purple: flowers in spring, pauses, then flowers again from midsummer through fall.
Although common lilacs love cold weather, a few thrive as far south as Zone 8, including cutleaf hybrid S. x laciniata, with fragrant, pale lavender flowers, and S. pubescens ssp. patula ‘Miss Kim,’ with pale, lilac-blue blooms that fade to white.

Small Lilacs
For gardeners, especially those in urban spaces, who just don’t have the room for the traditional larger lilac, there are compact varieties! They’ll even grow in a container on your patio or balcony.

‘Baby Kim’ grows only 2 to 3 feet high (and 3 feet wide) in a nicely rounded shape with purple flowers that attract butterflies. Extended hardiness from Zones 3 to 8.
‘Little Lady’ (S. x) is a compact lilac that matures to 4 to 5 feet tall and wide with dark pink buds that open to lilac-pink flowers. Hardy in Zones 2 to 7.
‘New Age Lavender’ and ‘New Age White’ (S. vulgaris) are super-compact, growing from 4 to 5 feet tall and wide, and bred for mildew resistance. Their fragrant flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Hardy to Zone 4.

See more lilac varieties!

Shrubs and Trees

About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana.

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Comments

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<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Thu, 05/23/2013 - 09:15

You need to prune your lilacs drastically, to eye level or even lower. After you cut them down you'll get lots of new shoots and these will develop into new flowering branches. You may not have any flowers next spring but the reward will be great the following years.

Anonymous Mon, 05/20/2013 - 10:02

we would like to cut the flowers and enjoy them inside the home, but they very quickly look like they are dehydrated and droop. what can we do /or add to the water in the vase to allow us to keep them more than just overnight.

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Wed, 05/22/2013 - 16:43

Here are a few tips. Pick lilacs when the flower cluster is half open. Use pruners or clippers to cut the stem a couple of inches up the center. Put the lilacs in a bucket with cool water covering the stems and leaves all the way up to the flowers. After a few hours arrange the lilacs in a vase and keep them out of direct sunlight.

Anonymous Mon, 05/20/2013 - 01:47

I grew up with lilacs in the yard and hoping to have that again. Will a lilac tree grow in Georgia.

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Wed, 05/22/2013 - 16:50

Korean lilac varieties do not require the long cold periods before flowering that common lilacs do. ‘Miss Kim’ (Syringa patula) is a southern favorite that will do well in Georgia.

Anonymous Wed, 05/15/2013 - 11:00

All of my neighbors have great lilac bushes ( I live in northern RI and have a river one house over and the river run off in back of my house). After admiring the bushes one of my neighbors gave me a cutting of the bush - a small stem with leaves and a flower at the end. How do I get it to grow roots so I can plant it outside? I currently have it in a clear vase with water in a sunny window.

Anonymous Mon, 05/13/2013 - 15:40

My Miss Kim lilac is about 4 -5 yrs old and has always bloomed well. This year 2/3 of the plant didn't leaf or bloom but there is a small bud on the end of each cane ( branch). Are they dead or dying? What should I do?

Spunky Monkey Wed, 05/22/2013 - 12:30

I'm in a similar situation as this poster. I have Korean lilacs that have performed beautifully the last 5-6 Springs. Now, all of a sudden, they are not doing so well. There's about 1/3 of the blooms, they are not leafing out as they should, and I have buds but no flowers. I've check for dead wood - although there is some, it's very minimal. I have pruned sparingly in the past after flowering, but I did not do so last year. We had drought conditions last summer, a late & wet spring, and some late frost. We haven't mulched but my hubby did build up some soil around the base of the foundation, and this is a foundation shrub. My neighbor's Korean lilacs did beautifully this year, and she has the exact same plants from the same nursery with the same exposure and similar heavy clay soil conditions. I intend to cut out dead wood and prune back all flowers and buds as recommended, plus fertilize which I also haven't done this year. I'm hopeful that will help. However, I am concerned because of the lack of leafing. Is something else going on? Any advice, ideas or recommendations are welcome. Thank you.

Anonymous Sun, 05/12/2013 - 22:47

I live in Vancouver Washington and I was given a WHITE lilac tree. It is very puny, about 4-5 ft. tall. It has been in a large pot for about 3-4 years. Lots of mildew & few blooms. It has many suckers around the bottom that have come up. I want to put it into the ground. Please, any suggestions > I am a novice gardener.

Anonymous Sun, 05/12/2013 - 16:34

I am gonna try and pot a lilac plant for indoor use for a couple years due to I love lilacs but can't plant outdoors in my apt complex.. Any suggestions??

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Planting and Growing Lilac Bushes