[ellenmelon]

What I have heard and think is right, so correct me out there if I am wrong!, is that suckering, which is what lilacs do and you have observed, is okay but to keep the stand clean looking you can sever the babies off and replant. Unless it is a very picky lilac; but as a whole, this plant is very very forgiving and generous. Try to do this after blooming, to give the plant energy for its blooming, but I think they are so sturdy that you might be able to do it anytime. So go find a file and sharpen that shovel edge, drive it straight down through the extension root...or dig up a root ball....