here in my z5.. the lilacs are just finishing bloom.. it is the ONLY time to cut them down ... if you have any dream of flower next season ... if you dont care about bloom.. cut them any time ... but.. when it all boils down ... its improperly planted ... too close to the deck.. get rid of it ... link below to what lilacs can do, when healthy .... basically swallow that deck cut it back to about 3 foot spikes.. and just start digging about 2 feet out from the stump .. using the spikes to wiggle and find the major roots.. couple hours of good exercise.. and you will be all set ... its simply not worth the effort to rejuvenate a mis-planted plant ... ken Here is a link that might be useful: link

Just got back in from taking some cuttings from my Dr. Seuss and realized that I forgot some info that might be useful to those trying to take cuttings: Take the cuttings prior to when frost makes them hang limp in form. The older woodier stems are more likely to form roots in water than the newer less woody stems. Make sure you keep the orientation of the cut portions so that the bottom most portion of the cut stem is inserted into the water. In other words, remember the orientation of how the stem was growing outside when you place it into the water. When people sell the cutted portion of the stems, they normally mark which end is up and which is down on the stem with a magic marker so you know which end to stick into the water. You can also grow these plants in pots and overwinter the pot inside a garage that stays above freezing in the winter. Cut the plant back severely and then just bring it into the garage. Water only sparingly during the winter. You may get some green growth during the winter if your garage gets warm and if it gets some winter sun. I used to grow one in a pot since the ones in pots always seem to get started up faster in the spring (most likely due to the soil in the pot warming up much faster than the ground soil), but basically ditched it after several seasons since I grew tired of bringing it in and out. Here is a picture of one of the years I brought it in and it actually bloomed in the garage one winter.

I'm Sorry Boca Joe, If you would like I can take this post off. Im not sure how to but if you tell me I will. So Sorry :( Happy All Saints Day! Karate626

Well that's quite a large wall to work with and anything that helps to shade/screen it will, no doubt, cut down on the electric bills. Besides trees/shrubs, you might consider a tall trellis/vine as well. You could also train a non-vine type plant on it such as the evergreen (orange/red berried) Pyracantha. The birds will thank you. Trees that have similar orange/red berries are Yaupons and Possumhaws. The Yaupons are evergreen the Possumhaws drop the leaves and show just the berries. Then there's the sun loving, orange flowered miniature pomegranite that gets about 10-12 feet. But if you don't want the fruit then don't do it. Keeping with the natives, there's always the fragrant Mountain Laurels. Very slow growing so buy one that is fairly mature. Another lovely native is the Vitex with its lavender blooms that are enjoyed by bees and hummingbirds. It's deciduous. As far as small trees go, my new favorite is the Tea or Sweet Olive (Osmanthus Fragrans). Fragrant, evergreen, and can be used either as a shrub or a specimen tree (find one with a single trunk). As for evergreen junipers, there are varieties of Sky Rocket Junipers (or rocket junipers) that might be appropriate. They keep a fairly slim width and height under 20'. Attractive, sun loving and drought tolerant, but I'm not sure how they do in Texas. There are many more 'smallish' trees that could be used in that space. Too many to name.