You should get flowers this summer. And you are correct, prune in late winter or early spring.

We haven’t had rain in 3 weeks...

It’s been crazy dry here too! I planted mine mid spring and wasn’t expecting them to bloom but they have!

Blooming like crazy!

Oh, wow! Enjoy!!!

3yrs and 4’ tall after a hard prune this spring.

They look really pretty!

I have a new home and just learning about limelights and planning on planting some. When you say prune, do you just cut straight across or do you cut every flower head off? Newbie here.....Thanks!

I personally cut every stem about 20-24 inches off the ground!

HU-301899385, Cutting every flower head off is called deadheading.

With this species of hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) of which Limelight is one variety, you can deadhead only, which will give the the largest shrub with the strongest limbs since wood older than a year tends to be thicker and stronger. This is a shrub which when planted in a spot to accommodate its size (In my area, 10’ tall and wide) doesn’t need actual pruning unless you have damaged branches.

Or you can prune as Brooke does, making sure that your cuts are just above a branch junction. But every cut needs to be made individually using hand pruners, not cutting straight across with hedge trimmers. It is a fair amount of work to do well, and I would only do this if you are planting in a fairly good amount of sun. I have seen some poorly pruned Limelights that flop all over, and IME they regrow to almost as large after pruning.

Timing for pruning is in early spring before leaf out. if you prune later in the growing season you may cut off the flower buds which form in spring, and then you will get few flowers for that season.

Year four. Trimmed to about 3ft tall at beginning of year.

At six feet currently. Starting broccoli phase.

Looking great! I just moved into a new house that has lots of hydrangeas, so I’m learning how to care for them. My limelight just bloomed and now I have four varieties all blooming at the same time. It’s wonderful.

Flower time!

Wow, your hedge is stunning! I remember when you planted it three years ago. In a couple years, they will be gigantic.

These beauties must be real showstoppers on your road. All I can say is WOW WOW!

Great job - they are beautiful.

@NWalton your hedge looks fantastic. How tall is it now?

@rpwoodard I trimmed them back this spring to about five feet. Currently around 6.5ft and filling out better on the sides. I suspect this year they will be over 8ft tall by end of summer.

@NWalton (Zone 6a) how wide/deep is your planting bed? To confirm these are 3ft apart?

The beds are about 6ft wide and will be extended next year to 8-9ft. @fall50 They were planted at 3ft spacing but these could definitely be 5-6ft spaced and fill in just fine. I have a deer issue and the first two years were difficult to grow because the deer were constantly attacking.

Wow, your limelight hedge is stunning. I can't believe that it has only been four years.

@chrysalids Crazy how time flies. Really looked good on year three. Now on year 4 and wish I would have put in another 80ft!

Please post how they look in the fall and winter! Will the still provide privacy

@Brooke Coady sounds like you planted your hedge 4 ft apart. What zone are you in? I am trying to figure out spacing for my hedge as I am in Zone4b so shorter growing season. I have been considering spacing my limelight hedge 4 1/2 ft on center. Did you find 4ft was good spacing?

Any pictures or advice would be appreicated!

Beautiful! How do you get it to be bushy but not floppy on the floor? Mine are bushy but they touch the floor due to flopping

@fall50 I spaced them roughly 3-3.5 ft apart and that was 2 years ago! Today they’re a full blown, 6 ft hedge! I prune them pretty hard late winter and get rid of all of the little, weak branches and prune the big branches into ‘V’s’. That gives the new growth, sturdy branches and a base, so they don’t flop over! This pic was about a week ago but I’ll take a new one tomorrow and post!

@Brooke Coady look forward to seeing more picture at different angles. I am really struggling with the spacing, I picked up six #5 container limelights tonight and they are big! Deborah Silver who is an incredible landscape architect also indicates 3ft to 3.5ft spacing but these forums are littered with recomendations to go further apart. Driving home from the landscape nursery I was thinking on going with 5ft on center, where as yesterday I was planning on 4.5ft. Now seeing your post at 3.5, I am very torn!. I am in Zone 4b (Minneapolis), so we have shorter growing season. (note I am familar with hydrangeas in genreral, however the spacing feedback on these forums is all over the map for hedges, with some people saying these will get 10ft tall while in the same breath, saying they have never pruned them! No doubt if your in a advanatgeous zone, with good irrigation and full sun, these will take off fore sure, no doubt, but full growth potential is all relative to a myrid of factors!

I would like to hear more about how you settled going with 3.5' spacing for your project ( i think in your post from 2 years you indicated 4ft) . What zone are you in?

@fall50 ok here are some better pics of this morning! I’m in Omaha, so I get the short growing season, which is why I planted them so close together! And I wanted privacy now, instead of waiting longer for them to grow together! I measured them and they’re 3.5 ft apart! It’s hard to tell because my landscaping has really filled in but they’re 6 ft in height and 7 ft in some places!

@Brooke Coady thanks for following up and confirmation on the 3.5' spacing. It really looks nice. I will be wrestling with spacing question bewteen now and when I put them in the ground this weekend!

Remember that these will get to be between 8‘ and 10’ in all directions even in cold climates like my central NH zone 4b-5a. Brooke’s plants have filled in at 2 years, but will continue getting wider. Even with pruning they will still reach at least 8’ every year, and IME plants that are too close will often have sparser growth at the bottom due to shading. I would space them more like 4 1/2’-5’ which in about 4 years will give you good overlap for a hedge without it being too close.

Yes Deborah Silver plants closer, but she always prunes (every branch individually with pruners not hedge trimmers) and has an army of workers to do maintenance on her home and clients’ homes. I much prefer choosing a plant that will grow to the size I want and not have to prune. So if Limelight at 8’-10’ is too big, choose a panicled hydrangea that is the size and flower look you prefer such as Little Lime at 5’-6’. I have panicled hydrangeas that range from 10-12’ in all directions to ones that are 4’ tall and a bit wider and many in between. Just my experience and seeing far too many homes with overgrown plants.

Read through the thread below on this forum. check out unprofessional’s photos and spacing.

How are those limelight hedges looking?

@NHBabs z4b-5a NH

Thanks for following up. You definetly have some good things to consider, and I have seen you highlight that that Debroah prunes every branch in the other thread. However, I do have to point out that Proven Winners who breads Limelights, indicates the average size is 6-8', https://www.provenwinners.com/plants/hydrangea/limelight-panicle-hydrangea-hydrangea-paniculata

That being said the thread started by "unprofessional" also highlights how this is not always the case and these shrubs can get crazy big. However unprofessional also readily admits they have not pruned the Limelights he/she has posted on, so it make sense to me her situation falls into that sweet spot of being in advantegous zone, with no pruning and the right balance of sun, to make her Limelights explosively big.

Which leads me right back to why I am struglling with what to do! Like anything in life there is "laws of average". and I think most limelights fall into 6-8ft window and therforee it seem like somewhere beewteen 3.5-5ft spacing is resonable. It;s just a matter of what the magic number is for that individuals speific growing conditions. With my zone, and amount of sun it feels like thats some where close to 4'. I did buy #5 limelights size so I dont think I will need to wait as long for the hedge look to unfold. But I also want to be thoghtful of how big these can get! For those following along here is a youtue video where she went with 4ft spacing. Personally I was expecting these to look more hedge like after 3 years, but also noticed the amount of sun she likely gets is less, being bewteen two houses. Again I think alot of the 10+ examples are the right mix of ideal growing conditions.

2:11 mark she discusses spacing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QA7TO7FtUk 

I am happy to start another hedge thread with annual pictures for my jouney so we can all learn together! Would love to hear any other feedback

My experience is that many plant breeders give sizes at 5 years, not actual maximum size.

I think that you can expect your area has about the maximum potential for size as long as they are in full sun because they do best in zones 4-6 IME.

For instance in my garden, I grow Pinky Winky and Quickfire. Both supposedly grow 6’-8’, and at about 10 years for each they are taller than that. My hands extended are about 6 1/2’ from the ground and even with a 2 1/2’ pruner, I cannot reach the top of the shrub, so they are both over 9’.

Year 5. Didn’t cut them back this year and they are leggy. If I had to do it again I would have staggered them a bit rather than a straight line.

@nwalton do you have additional pictures? How far were these spaced

@fall50 I will get more here as they bloom. I stated distance somewhere in this thread. Either 24 or 30in on center. Our neighborhood is frequented by deer and the first two years were a fight to get these to grow.

Bloom time

How did you solve the deer problem??

@kitasei2 Sorry for the late reply. I only get on this site to look at plants my wife has asked about planting. I used fishing wire the first two years to get the plants to mature. Looked very hillbillyish. Pretty sure my neighbor made fun of me about it during that time. Oddly he now copies much of what I do outside.

The deer still munch on them but this is 60ft of hedge and at this point cannot be stopped by the 10 or so deer that come through.

If i could do one thing over it would be to plant these at 3.5-4.5 feet apart so they filled in better.

Another year. Im debating digging out every other bush to make 5ft between bushes in hope of getting a fuller bush.

Another year. Im debating digging out every other bush to make 5ft between bushes in hope of getting a fuller bush.

And it will spare you from pruning, a worthy goal in my view.

Thanks for sharing over the years @NWalton (Zone 6a). this is honestly the best resource on the internet for someone researching a hedge due to the progress pics. I’m zone 7 and just planted eight 4’ from each other and 4’ from my driveway. I’m hoping they touch in 2 - 3 years.

@Brooke Coady The entire design looks really good. Do you happen to know what all of the different trees and other plantings are with the hydrangeas?