but for watering.. you would be hard pressed to kill it if you wanted too ...dont worry about it.. and try to love it to death ... water a plant when it needs water ... get in there.. and dig a 3 to 4 inch deep hole.. AND FIND OUT IF IT NEEDS WATER ..... on the compass points ... 4 holes .. refill ... its a deciduous plant.. it will be losing its leaves.. on such.. i am rarely inclined to ever treat leaf problems.. moving into fall ... all you are waiting for.. is for it to set buds.. that will bloom next spring .. and those are all that is important ... see link for watering .. ken https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

Well it's good to know I'm not alone, I guess! Thanks for the replies. I think that motor oil or other toxins from vehicles is the most likely culprit in my case, as with yours, barrett001. I'm guessing used oil from farm equipment in my instance. I tend to discount the compacted soil theory because my blighted area is on a fairly steep uphill slope, so not optimal for parking, but it is possible. Interestingly, when I did a search for trees that are tolerant of toxic (petroleum in particular) soils, many varieties of crabapple were on the list, so I guess that explains my sole surviving tree. It is remarkable how the area has such distinct boundaries. It extends a short distance into the neighboring "re-foresting" area, and two of the spruce seedlings I planted there suffered. One died early on, while the other is a stunted specimen today. Just on the other side of the invisible line, their spruce companions are all thriving and about ten times taller than the stunted tree. If I had less land, a small yard for instance, then I would be digging out the old soil and replacing it, or building a raised bed filled with untainted soil, but as it is I have no interest in soil testing or attempting to repair my blighted area. It's more of a curiosity for me.

Hi Ken, yes, there are stubs which he is going to remove with a hand saw later. Just for more info, he never touched anything at the top. First, he removed leaves by hand to expose the trunk, and then he started separating the trunks, first removing the whips, then any crossing trunks, but he did leave one crossing that he said if he removed would screw up the look of the canopy. There would be an open space in the canopy, like a big dent or a line. As you can see on the left side that did happen a little bit when he removed one trunk. Though I wanted the canopy high I didn't realize it would be that high as it looks a little leggy to me now. But he assured me that as the tree gets older the trunks will get thicker and it will put out some more branches and leaves lower down under the canopy. Not to mention the canopy itself will drop a little bit as it gets weightier. He's done this many times on his own property and his trees look amazing. He said in future to always remove any branches coming out of the lower trunk and whips as soon as they show up. I'm just curious when this is going to flower. It is in its 3rd. year already. I took the picture walking around the tree and shooting at different angles.

BillMN-z-2-3-4 You seems to really know your Lilacs well- seeing your photos and hearing how many Lilacs you have and how you didn't water the big ones, but did water the new smaller ones and how you said it happens every year does seem like it must be a water issue! Impressive how many Lilacs you have! Rebecca/N. IN/z6A thanks for telling me your personal experience with your Lilacs having the same issues also!. Your issues with Powdery Mildew reminds of me when I bought a reduced price Peony at the end of the season horribly covered in Powdery Mildew from a nursery...I planted it and the next growing season I watered all the Peonies more than the year before and the Mildew was not an issue on any of the Peonies! Dutch thanks for the info that Bacterial Blight doesn't always wilt the tips, this kind of info is good to know, I like learning. What I've learned collectively from everyone's input here is how important watering Lilacs is to most likely prevent this browning of leaves and leaf loss, due to heat stress. I will water my Lilacs more next growing season and report back with my observations on this issue on how regular watering affects them. Thanks EVERYONE!