Said to say, my lilac performed very poorly this year. (Bloom photos in this post are from previous years.) Perhaps I forgot to prune the lilac during all the excitement last year as I was finishing up the Mackinac Island Garden and preparing a rose tea party. In any case, I made sure to prune it this year, near the end of May. My Corona Tools Quicksaw made quick work of this project. For thinner branches, you could use loppers or pruners.
To get the most blooms on your lilacs, prune them right after blooming each year. If you wait too long, you’ll cut off branches that would bloom the following year. Keep your lilac in the shape of a multi-stemmed shrub, not a tree with a thick trunk. Besides trimming off the spent booms, I cut off two or three of the thickest branches every year. Pruning helps to open up the lower branches to more to let more sunlight.
Since my lilac is in a corner between our shed and the fence, it’s important to keep it well pruned. Next to the bare branches at the bottom of this lilac is where I set up my Midsummer Night’s Dream fairy garden every year.
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The Gardener Wife 