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

Add a Comment

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Thu, 06/14/2012 - 09:29

A lilac is fine in a container for the short-term, given plenty of water and sun. However, after a year or two, they'll get too large and they'd do better in the ground. In a pot, the lilac will also need fertilizer in early spring and after bloom--and also add a handful of lime once a season.

Anonymous Sat, 06/09/2012 - 17:48

What is a sucker? I have lilacs in my yard and some are very tall and others short. They tend to only have blooms on the top and not towards the bottom. I looked at the blooms, which are no longer purple and appear dead. I thought this was what was to be pruned but there are new green buds in them. Should I be removing these? HELP!!!!

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Thu, 06/14/2012 - 09:20

Suckers are plant sprouts from the root system. New lilac suckers grow into new lilacs! For some folks, this is desirable. For many homeowners, who don't want more growth, it is not. Your lilacs also need pruning. If you just have blooms on the top, then your lilac is overgrown. You must prune RIGHT after they finish flowering this year, and before mid-July. If overgrown, also cut down about a third of the older canes as close to the ground as possible next bring before they leaf out. You may not get blossoms that year but you'll send out new growth and the shrub will start to look better next year. Always thin out your thickest canes as low as you can cut them.

Anonymous Thu, 06/07/2012 - 23:37

Hi, I have recently planted 6 Charles joly lilac shrubs, May long weekend in northern Alberta. They are planted along the back of my fence which recieves full sun all day long. While watering them this evening, I noticed that on 3 of the 6 shrubs they have a few blackening leaves on them. Is this normal or should I be concerned about insects/desease affecting them? As I purchased and planted them at the end of May, I am unsure if they bloomed this year. They seem to me...a VERY inexperienced gardener...to be young they stand 3-4' tall. Other than the blackening leaves they appear to be healthy, as someone mentioned above they do have some leaves with holes but I think thats just par for the course...no

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Fri, 06/08/2012 - 10:23

Black leaves may mean: 1) Frost injury on newly emerging tissue. If the black parts on more prominent on the margins of leaves, it's probably just the cold temperatures. 2) Lilac blight. This looks a bit different--starting as brown water-marked spots and progresses to blackened leaves. A cool, wet, rainy, spring season can lead to lilac blight, especially if rainy after a late frost. In this case, you want to prune and burn all infected areas. You may wish to bring a sample to your local cooperative extension or garden center.

Anonymous Fri, 06/01/2012 - 14:13

First time growing a drawf lilac tree/bush and this year it has what looks like seeds, when do I pick the seeds and how and when do I plant them. This drawf is 3 years old and has about ten 18" suckers growing I want to transplant them but need advice too. Hope someone has the answers, thanking you in advance.

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 06/04/2012 - 19:07

Lilacs are relatively low maintenance, just be sure to trim the blooms after they’ve expired in the spring. Lilacs grow on old wood. The seeds should just be cut off, planting them will most likely get you nowhere. Also cut away the suckers. Lilacs are clump forming and produce new shoots from the base of the trunk. Use these shoots for propagating lilac bushes. Dig down from the main clump, exposing the roots and carefully cut the shoot away from the “mother” plant. Make sure you include roots. Then plant the shoot in a suitable location and water regularly until it takes hold. Good luck!

Anonymous Tue, 05/29/2012 - 21:34

I live in northern Alabama and planted a lilac bush about 4 years ago. It bloomed the first year, but although it is growing in size, it has not bloomed the past 3 years. I have tried everything, including soil acidifier. I was really hoping it would bloom this year, as I had been doing research on how to prune. But it never did, and now I'm not sure which canes to cut back, as I have read that you should only prune the canes that have produced blooms in spring. The only other thing I can think of is that I have not removed the grass and mulched around the bush. Could that really be the reason for its not blooming?

Anonymous Mon, 06/11/2012 - 14:58

I live in DE and I have the exact same happen to me.First year it bloomed and hasn't bloomed in 3-4 years now. I have kept the grass away from mine by mulching and has not worked so I don't think that is your problem. HELP

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 06/12/2012 - 11:13

You'll want to check for the same concerns: sunlight, pH levels of the soil, improper planting, and pruning that may have removed the buds for upcoming years. See comments below for more advice. Thank you for your interest in the Old Farmer's Almanac and our Web site.

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Planting and Growing Lilac Bushes