Hello! I have what is supposed to be a "dwarf" lilac tree,which isnt so dwarfy anymore! It was only supposed to grow to about 5-6 feet tall,now its to the roof of my house, and is growing outwards as well. I would'nt mind because I love lilacs, and the tree looks nice as well, but when it rains the whole tree slumps over and I end up tying a rope across it to keep it from touching the ground. The braches just dont seem to be getting strong no matter what I do...prunning vigourously or not! Obviously the tree is in the right spot for it cause the thing just grows like crazy every year, but its not getting strong enough branches to hold it up. Can I feed it something special to try and get the branches to hold their own? Or do I just keep trying to hack away at it? P.S. this has been goin on for about 4 years now that I have been trying to fix this problem, it looks pretty funny with the string holding the poor thing up all summer and fall....pleaz help...THANX!!
Proximity of house may be the problem. Control height by periodically sawing entire specimen down to 12"-18", right after main spring bloom flush. Leave unpruned until tall and floppy, then cut down again that year, so that there is an interval of some years (the more, the better) between prunings during which it can build itself back up.
