Old French Lilac

Question

I have an old dark purple French lilac that only has 2 to 3 blooms a year. I am planning to prune a little after blooms this spring and then fertilize in Feb. of ’18. Bone meal will be a component. Does that sound right? This bush was my mother’s. Her aunt gave it to her in the ’50s.

Answer 1

Old lilacs will often not bloom or have very few blooms. Yes, adding bone meal and pruning to encourage new wood to grow is a good plan. You can follow one of the two pruning plans described in this article:

https://hortnews.extension.iastate.edu/1993/2-10-1993/lilac.html

The plan should cause flowering to improve over the next 3-5 years.