At this point, if they are leaning, they are probably reaching for sun.

i thought that might be the case, but the yard gets full sun. :(

its the normal shape for such ... unless you can prove otherwise with a pic or two...

they are not trees... that grow straight up ...

if you dont want it growing towards the fence... after flowering.. remove that branch down to 3 to 6 inches .. its called rejuvenation pruning.. and thats how we deal with lilacs ...

but no matter what you decide to do ... you arent going to force them.. against their will ...

pic below.. they were small once .. and there is a fence behind ..

ken

and on the driveway

thanks Ken! i will give them some time and see what happens with them. it is my first time planting them and i wasn't sure what to do! now i know i don't have to do anything :)

thats not quite what i said... lol ... but you have fun ... ken

It's odd that they are leaning towards the fence. Usually if plants are reaching for light they lean away from fences (if they are solid, rather than just rails). Can you show us a picture?

i will get a picture up.

*ken_adrian they only have like 2 branches on them, very little bushes still. so i figure i need to give them a bit of time.

see how it leans a bit to the fence? is that normal? it looks like the bottom few inches is bent and leans over that way. the couple that are like this are all the same with that notch on the bottom.

this one is straight and happy, but i have two or three that lean a bit.

ken-i did notice on one of them that i could prune off a branch and it would take care of the problem. thank you for that tip to cut off the "offending" branch.

Ok, it's not a solid fence so it's not blocking the light.

I wouldn't say those shrubs are leaning at all. They aren't trees with a single vertical trunk. Shrub branches come off at angles and yours look absolutely normal for young lilacs. As long as they have ample light they will be fine, I'm sure. If you want to help them along remove the grass which is growing right up to their stems and mulch around them.

Thanks so much for your thoughts!! We are putting mulch in in a week or so. I appreciate everyone's input!

lol thanks Ken! i won't forget the term! i appreciate your help!