Question
I haven't pruned my Lilac tree/or maybe it s/be a bush.  When I prune it, do I do it like a rose bush, where a leaf growth starts on the limb?  It's about three years old.  It did have a very short bloom.  The leaves are green, but they curl up.  I am in Ca.  How often should I water my Lilac.  In Reno, NV. there are many beautiful,fragrant Lilacs trees. They don't get much water, and the winters were cold.  Not so here in CA.

Answer
Hi Donna, I checked on Lilac trees and the seem to do better in your old area where the air is drier.  Where it is more humid you are likely to get blacked leaves and the curl in the leaf is leaf minor.  If you look on the back side of the leaf you will see what looks like railroad tracks.  If the black occurs which is fungus a product called Atomic Grow will help make the plant healthy and keep that away.  The leaf minor comes out in the heat of the summer and sleeps in the winter so leaves will come out nice.  Pruning the leaves in the summer will bring out more curling leaves as they go into the new growth.  Never prune a tree back more than 1/3 just like a rose.  kathy