maybe just reaching the end of their time.

==>> no such thing...

sounds like it is regenerating itself...

i would put the hose on trickle.. and let it run for hours.. per plant ... and get them some significant deep water ...

and then hope for the best ...

as always.. a pic might help

ken

Yep, there's a 60 year old lilac at my old house that is still going strong - these shrubs can be quite long-lived.

Lilac is considered a "suckering" shrub in that it produces multiple stems from the root crown. When they are at a distance from the mother plant these are often considered root suckers and can be dug and transplanted and established as new plants. Old stems/branches rotting at ground level would just seem to indicate that those branches have just reached the end of their particular viability, given there are no drainage or root issues that would otherwise cause rotting.

Suckering flowering shrubs like lilac are often greatly benefitted from a rejuvenation pruning or the removal of the oldest stems/branches at the base, upto a total of about a third of the plant at any one time. These encourages new basal growth which tends to be much more vigorous than the very old wood. I would wait to do this until late winter or early next spring.

Otherwise, it may just be that weather extremes are sending your plants into an early dormancy. I know of local, very mature lilacs that get minimal attention in our typically very dry summers and tend look pretty funky by this late in the season.

I followed your advice Ken and they do look better. I took out all of the dead branches and continue to water. The drought changed the whole landscape and it is not possible to water everything so some trees died that are too far away from water. You sort of look around and ask yourself what can I save and what do I choose to let die. Hard questions. Thanks for your help, I am hoping the water is the answer.

who wants.. what needs that kind of attention..

so be it.. good riddance to the foo foo ...

with enough research.. you can find things that do not need constant care.. once they get established.. they are usually called NATIVES....

good luck

ken