VivaSync

Our lilac tree puts out invasive suckers that have now broken through into a neighbouring bed. We've dug up as many as we could, but they soon come back. How do we stop them taking over?
Some lilacs, particularly common lilac and some earlier-blooming varieties, just love to sucker. When you cut back suckers at ground level (slice them off with a sharp spade), the plant will respond by producing new shoots. These vigorous new shoots tend to have better flowers than the thicker, older branches, so you could selectively leave some in place for this reason alone.

The long and short of it is, if it's a suckering shrub, that's its habit and you have to decide whether you like the lilac enough to keep on top of it. Syringa villosa is supposedly non-suckering, so you could replace yours with that, but personally I'd pull the whole thing out and replace with a small apple (on dwarf root stock). Apple blossom is just as pretty, after all, and that way you get to eat something in autumn, too.

Got a question for Alys? Email askalys@theguardian.com

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