I have a hedge of white lilac, and I will venture out into the open from the safety of lurking to weigh in on this one. Lilac is one of those plants people seem to either love or hate. Some are too polite to say much but a few openly offer up unasked opinions of how to kill them/ what to plant instead so be prepared. Personally I love my hedge. It is large, lovely, and old fashioned, which suits me. It blooms in the spring and turns yellow in the fall. In the summer it sits there big and dark green, full of little birds, providing all the privacy a person could want. I don't mind the twiggy deciduous look in the winter or the fact that you can see through it then. Lilac makes a fine hedge, but not a formal or evergreen one. If you need a solid screen in the winter you should reconsider and plant something evergreen. You can look up the mature size of your variety but I believe it will be around 8' tall by 8' wide. If this location in your yard does not have this sort of room, ie you were thinking of something maybe 3'wide and 5' tall my advice is to plant something else because lilac is vigorous and will eventually outgrow your best efforts (and you will prune off the blooms as well ). My hedge sits back almost 6' off the property line to allow it room to spread. I mulch underneath, and pull weeds as needed. The remaining upkeep and pruning varies, depending on the lilacs used, because lilacs will sucker. All of them. If the lilac is propagated by division and is on it's own roots the suckers that come up will be the same variety. You can leave most of these if you wish and the result will be a very full thick brushy hedge slightly, but surprisingly, not too much wider than the next type. If the lilacs are grafted- all the ones I have seen at Costco are grafted ones- then the suckers that come up will be from the rootstock and must all be removed a couple of times a year say spring and fall. This hedge will grow up a bit more refined, a different look but a nice one. (you can of course remove all suckers from hedge type one and get this look also). The common wisdom is to plant 3 1/2 to 5 feet apart. I would advise planting them the closer distance if you can afford it and they are on their own roots since they will look like a hedge sooner (the instant gratification factor), but if they are grafted I'd leave them enough room to grow into a nice shape eventually, planting maybe 5 feet apart (note check the ultimate size and vigor of your variety here and plant accordingly). Lilacs will grow 6 inches or so a year both up out.

Hahaha! We've been calling it the Lincoln Memorial the whole time John was making it....it is big...about two feet long and 18 inches or so high. I'm going to have to put some other plants or GJ around so it will not look so large where I have it. Thanks for the inspiring words...more projects to come!

Lilo---lovely, lovely story---especially the ending---well---I 'spose it was really the introduction of a whole new story! --Just lovely and very sweet of you to share such special memories. I can relate to the "--don't interrupt grown-ups" sentence; a standard for any inquisitive child of our younger days. Next to that, I would cringe at having to shake the hand of a BOY when being introduced to new folks! At that younger age, the only time I thought a boy was worth his salt was when he was wearing a cowboy outfit!

Pat, the only adjustments I've made over the years is switching to safflower seed for a few summer months when the sparrow fledglings out number the dandelions. Otherwise, I use a good blend, very light on millet, for the rest of the year and buy suet by the case in the fall when it goes on sale at Agway. I have just the one seed feeder, one suet cage and one hummer feeder. What I did do was plant extensively with native plants that attract everybody. Plus, we live in a somewhat wooded area. Feeding birds is all about me. They will continue on long after I'm gone. They are my entertainment as I photograph them mostly through my office windows. What I have learned even more so from observing them is that NONE of this is my design. Mother Nature never consulted Jane and we all know she doesn't give a tinker's dam what I think. So whoever, whatever, comes because I put food out, is all on me. If a hawk steals a mourning dove in my yard, I feel bad for the dove, good for the hawk. He will live another day. Many hawks do not reach maturity due to starvation. I've learned that birds do not have the greed gene. They take what they can eat, store what they can if that is their habit - like BC Chickadees - but nothing goes to waste. When the birds fool around on the feeder and seed goes to the ground, the chipmunks, et al, eat well. I have a wonderful neighbor who buys only shelled sunflower seeds, pricey stuff, and uses a feeder that is weight balanced to exclude blue jays, grackles and all the guys she doesn't want to feed. She likes little birds. She won't even look up when I say, "Oh, look! A red tail hawk!". She can't stand hawks. But she is a great, kind woman who gives and gives of herself - just not to big birds.But she too feeds all year long and is concerned when her regulars disappear. Long answer here, but yes, I keep the same feeders year round filled and have a ton of birds that are happy and fight among themselves - just the way Mother Nature designed it. Any bird here is okay by me. Pat, I say do what makes you feel good in your birding area because, to me, it's all about us watching them; not them depending on us. (I know that is a debatable subject in the current ranks of ornithology, but that's not where I am.) Life is easier if I don't hate anything. I have to work on the sn*ke thing, lol, that's fear. Maybe a trip to New Hampshire would help. :) Birds pay me back ten fold just for being themselves. This little guy is worth all the sugar I can give him: Link to Buddy being Buddy - - - Buddy Jane