rakauffman said: When we moved into our house in 1980 there was a sizeable lilac bush immediately outside our back door right by the back porch. It has continued to grow and flower through all of these years but grew a bit crooked (off vertical). A very heavy snow at the end of winter knocked the plant over. It still flowered, grew leaves, and seems to be doing fine but I really don't want a horizontal lilac tree ... It has survived decades here in upstate New York so it is fairly hardy and I would like to keep it going.
Prepare the Lilac for Transplanting
Moving a large lilac is a multi-month project. A lilac tree root ball size extends beyond the visible trunk and branches of the shrub. The University of Georgia Extension recommends root-pruning in spring or fall to help the plant develop new feeder roots before its big move. This will help reduce transplant shock.
Wait until the leaves have fallen or before new leaves appear in spring, when the shrub is dormant. Dig a 12- to 18-inch-deep trench around the shrub, 6 to 12 inches inside the drip line, to cut off the roots. Use sterilized loppers or pruners to cut the larger roots. Fill the trench with the excavated soil and water thoroughly. The root system will develop new feeder roots within the trimmed root ball.
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Lilac Bushes Failing to Bloom: What's Up With That?
What is the reason, exactly, why these classic plants fail to bloom? Well, rather than zeroing in on a single explanation, look at several possible reasons behind this problem, which include (in addition to diseases and pests):
Pruning at the wrong time
Cold weather killing the flower buds
Planting your lilacs in the wrong place
The shrub in question is either too old or not old enough to produce flower buds
Notice that, while numbers one and three speak to the gardener's having done something wrong, reasons number two and four are nobody's fault.
Why does the precise time that you prune matter? Lilacs are shrubs that bloom on old wood. This means that the flower buds for the next spring's blooming period are set on the growth produced during the prior year. When you prune off this growth, you lose the flower buds—and, by extension, the flowers that they would have brought. That is why you are advised to prune lilac bushes right after they are done flowering (before they have set bud for next year).
The common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) is a very cold-hardy plant, but if a hard frost or a freeze comes along just as the flower buds are about to open, they can be damaged. This results in the loss of blooms for that year. There is not much that you can do to prevent this; just accept the loss and appreciate next year's blossoms twice as much.
As with most plants, where you have planted your lilac bush very much matters. Lilacs are full-sun plants that want well-drained soil. If you made a mistake on either of these fronts when you first installed your plants, you may be paying for it now—in the form of your lilac not flowering. But there is an easy remedy to the problem: transplant your shrub to a more suitable spot.
Regarding reason number four, be aware that, while these bushes are long-lived, their flower production does tend to peter out over the decades. The solution to this problem is to perform a rejuvenation pruning on your lilacs (do not expect immediate results, though). The opposite is also true sometimes: namely, that your plant is simply too young to bloom. Give it time.
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There was a video but they are not transplanting a Lilac Bush, they transplanting Lilac twigs.
I have some very old Lilacs, one at home is older than I am by years; I thought I would have to remove old trunks, inches in diameter as it bloomed so-so last year but last year was hard on any flowering bush.
This year it bloomed profusely; it is over 12 ft high and the blooms were thickest on top.
If a trunk goes side-ways, you can stake it up or bind it to younger trunks, or simply pull it out at ground level but I have found smaller trunks take years, many, before they bloom like the old ones.
When I used to trim my lilacs every year, I would remove all the young twigs and leave just the trunks that were inches in diameter because I loathe nasty bushy things, but after X decades I have gotten too darn lazy.
I have found that clutter (bushy looking bushes) causing the lack of air circulation encourages disease production having lost some truly large, over 4 inches in diameter , trunks to disease the past 7 years.
