Lilac Tree - How hard can I prune?

We have a Lilac that must be 25 feet+ tall and about the same wide... What are the options for cutting this back to a much more reasonable size? I was thinking more 10 feet tall. Would it kill if if I cut it back to the main trunks? (ie no leaves)

 

Hi Dan, Lilacs are very tough and if its otherwise healthy it would be difficult to kill it through pruning. Correct pruning at this point is the key to a nice looking shrub, I've found a couple of articles on pruning Lilacs, rejuvinating and routine there after, here are the links;

http://gardening.about.com/od/pruning/a/Pruning_Lilacs.htm

http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/1993/2-10-1993/lilac.html

Good Luck

 

That's great info Bilbo, that certainly suggests I can be ruthless and also that I need to do it now. I might get the chainsaw out tomorrow!

I didn't even realize - I have two of the things!! Obviously last time I paid attention to them they had blended into one with foliage in-between.

I took a couple of pics this morning so you get an idea of the size!

 

I am ashamed to admit I took a chainsaw to a white lilac I have which hadn't been pruned for about 30 years. It looked a little tatty for the 1st year post the massacre but now 5 years on it is looking very well and flowered profusely last year.

 

I have three tree-sized lilacs along my fence. They have all had severe pruning down to the trunk and stumps of branches, i.e. no leaves, and survived. I do it in early spring so lose the blossom for that year but get big lush leaves instead. They tend to respond by throwing up a lot of shoots, I prune out those which are growing badly in the second spring.
I find they make quite a nice small tree with very gnarled textured bark which tends to spiral slightly.