Our lilac trees are strong little buggers. They bounced back after some heavy snow last year.
They survived my novice trim job. 
They stood tall even when surrounded by weeds.
And now look at them! They could probably stand another trim next year and then hopefully they’ll produce more blooms. 🙂
The rest of the backyard is doing really well; I’m still surprised sometimes when I look back there.
Here is how it looked a week or so ago. As opposed to the photo above you can see that the sod as really “grown in”. 
Love the red mulch – inspired me to get some lilac bushes too!