[Celtic Eagle]

I have a standard lilac in the garden Its a dwarf form grafted onto a standard rootstock and looks really good with a superb fragrance. Now, I have a little problem the head has got a bit big and needs pruning but I don't know much about how to prune lilac. Can anyone offer some advice. Ta

[tosca100]

I don't know of any rules, but when my Mum's got thuggish, I used to cut it back hard. The trouble is there was hardly any flower for the next year. I used to do it after flowering so it grew some new leaves and didn't look too bare for the rest of the year.

I've got one of the ones with tiny flowers and it flowers in waves all through the Summer into Autumn. I just dead head and shorten between flowerings.

[Ma Lowe]

We pruned our Lilac and had no flowers for 2 years.
I love the smell of a lilac but hate the shoots that appear all round the tree very hard to get up.

[Yorkie]

From my RHS pruning book;

Prune in midsummer, as the flowers fade; renovate in winter.

Established plants should be deadheaded carefully, where practical, with secateurs, to avoid damaging the  young shoots which will flower next year.  Remove suckers as seen.

To renovate, cut back main steams to within 1-2' of ground - regrowth will be thinned but flowering delayed by up to 3 years.  Preferably stagger renovation over 2-3 years.

[Trillium]

For a standard, I wouldn't prune it the same. Where you got any blooms this year is what you need to cut off as no more will come from this bit - but not the whole branch, just to immediately above where the flower spray started. Then do a light general shaping, and I mean light, no trimming it into lollypop shapes or anything or as said, you'll cut off next year's buds. Better a little bit each year until you can see where trimming worked and where it didn't.