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HostasHydrangeasTrees
djacobz568sewi

Concerned about my Limelight Hydrangea tree

6 years ago

Last summer some of you may have seen photos of my LH tree. It was very full and beautiful. However, since it had not been trimmed in several years, so much growth was on very thin, small branches and were almost cracking under the weight of a heavy rain or snow. It had also been damaged by the falling of a large limb from another tree. I decided to trim it back quite aggressively. Now, even though I see budding on my Japanese Maples, Burning Bush and Lilacs, I see none on the LH. I don’t even see green wood around the openings of the branches. Have I killed it?




Featured Answer
  • 6 years ago

    When it comes to the Hydrangea paniculata, don't over complicate things by worrying about pruning. With all the breeding work that has been done in the last decade or two pick the variety that fits the space and assume everything will get a little bigger than the tag says. These are really no brainer plants. These are my observations with many varieties in my location (MN).

    • If the spent flowers bother you, prune them off late fall through early spring. Get out the shears and do it. No need to fuss with hand pruners and each individual flower. Otherwise the plant will grow over them. Also, it seems like the the more lace cap type flowers tend to break off over the winter.
    • Pruning them back will not significantly reduce their size in a given season once established. I've seen hard pruned plants grow taller than the unpruned specimen of the same variety. Right plant, right place.
    • Hard pruning seems to create a later and more uneven bloom cycle on the plant. I prefer the plant blooming consistently around the whole plant so don't prune or just lightly.
    • I haven't seen a consistent result of pruning and flop prevention. I think age structure are more important. Certain varieties with big, full flowers are more prone to flop with the right weather event.

    And with some of the new breeding in Hydrangea arborescens those of us in cold zones that don't want to deal with Hydrangea macrophylla even variation in sizes, colors, shapes and timing. Just no blues.

    Comments (16)

    • 6 years ago

      Here’s another photo




    • 6 years ago

      regardless of the other children.. mid march is still early in z5 to worry about something not being as early as the other things ... be patient ...


      besides.. maybe the rest of them will get first/freeze damaged.. just to show this one why budding out early isnt always the best thing ...


      just leave it alone and give it time,...


      and if it does flush out.. maybe we can get rid of some of those not so good pruning stubs that were left in the process ...


      ken


      btw: when did you prune it back?? .. late in the year???



      djacob Z6a SE WI thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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    • 6 years ago
      last modified: 6 years ago

      It is too early for some places up in the northern states. My hydrangea macrophyllas began to leaf out in late February/early March but the paniculatas wake up about a week or two later. Generally speaking (for non-tree paniculatas), if you see no leaf out by the end of May, you can assume that the stem is dead and you can prune it all the way down. The roots may not be dead so you may get new growth (stems). In the case of a tree that does not leaf out by the end of May, that means that it did not make it. But if the tree's roots were ok, you would have several new growth (stems) from the bottom soon (you would have to "start the tree" from scratch though).

      Just a fyi (not implying that this happened): It is never a good thing to prune before the plant has gone dormant in autumn/winter because pruning makes plants go into "grow" mode and if winter hits when it is "awake", they may have winter injuries. It is best to prune a few weeks after the plant has gone dormant.

      Then there are my Crape Myrtles. They look like lilacs but the CMs leaf out reeeeeally late, like May sometimes. Looks weird having no foliage when other plants are blooming!

      djacob Z6a SE WI thanked luis_pr
    • 6 years ago
      last modified: 6 years ago

      I pruned the tree on October 14, 2019. I had read it was ok to prune in fall or spring. Ken maybe you could tell me more about the not so good pruning stubs???? Do you mean prune back to the largest branches?

    • 6 years ago

      see here now.. lol... https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=pruning+stubs&iax=images&ia=images\second


      third pic at link .. when the stub is too long.. the tree cant encapsulate and close the wound ... so the stub starts rotting.. and it can go down into the trunk of the tree .. in tree time.. 10 or 20 years ...


      on the other hand.. who knows.. in this small flowering tree.. it might bud out on some of those ... its not that a a big deal on small stuff like this .... but its not good if its some 50 foot tree hanging over your house ...


      just a little teaching moment..


      glad to see/hear.. you made it thru winter ...


      ken

      djacob Z6a SE WI thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    • 6 years ago

      Ken, did you put the correct link? When I clicked to see what was being said, I ended in a page that appeared to have search results and no pictures. ???

      djacob Z6a SE WI thanked luis_pr
    • 6 years ago
      last modified: 6 years ago

      I'm zone 6 and non of my panicle hydrangeas have any leaf buds or other signs of life. Totally normal for this time of year for me.

      djacob Z6a SE WI thanked amanda99999
    • 6 years ago

      I did find the correct page Ken, thanks. Now go to Hosta NOIDS and help me out! Hahaha :-)

    • 6 years ago

      Way too early for panicled hydrangeas in zone 5. I have 6” snow predicted for Monday. This is an early spring, and you just need to have patience. The plants generally have a pretty good grasp on when it’s a good time to start swelling buds, and it isn’t the same for all plants.

      djacob Z6a SE WI thanked NHBabs z4b-5a NH
    • 6 years ago

      What the hell I still have frozen soil n the yard. No budding of any kind Of any plant.


      When pruning back cut at roughly 45 degree angle to the nearest bud.


      Personally I’d cut off the little stubs.


      couple other things...


      when you have all that thin grow it’s advised to thin it back to the main stems. Cutting back as shown generates more full thin growth. Goal is to get caliper.


      Invest is a better pruner.

      This my favorite compared to the idiotic but popular felco that has the spring and little lock switch at the pivot point.


      https://www.amazon.com/Okatsune-Bypass-Pruners-General-Purpose/dp/B001Y54F88/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=okatsune+pruners&qid=1584905570&sprefix=okat&sr=8-3




      djacob Z6a SE WI thanked whaas_5a
    • 6 years ago

      ha ha yeah. No swelling buds on any plant except cotoneaster. Just barely got my first emerging tulip on the warm south side of my house

      djacob Z6a SE WI thanked L Clark (zone 4 WY)
    • 6 years ago

      Have a look at some of this stuff:

      https://www.bing.com/search?q=pruning+hydrangea+paniculata+plants&form=EDGEAR&qs=AS&cvid=c5533251d91047dfa662da91e60eb6b1&cc=US&setlang=en-US&elv=AQj93OAhDTiHzTv1paQdngzhg9Ad7TsIXW%21d4wqABrtcQN0b3RqaxSLHF6mbnDTF92xC1GFAnhRNBtoAeGEi7cizoXetHQQOZ%21lXWbIY4Q&plvar=0

      djacob Z6a SE WI thanked Embothrium
    • 6 years ago

      I have pruned 10’ Limelights in April down to bone (2’) Sept they are 10’ ... now just prune the old blooms and shape them up

      djacob Z6a SE WI thanked hyed
    • 6 years ago

      Thank you everyone....Embothrium, I have used a long handled lopper to trim the tree because I don’t have great hand strengh. Are the hand pruners you recommend on Amazon easy to use? Or is there a lopper you would recommend? Is there a reason to use a pruner and not a lopper?

    • 6 years ago

      the only difference is size ... and how close you can make the surgical cut ... yours werent very surgical.. eh??


      dont worry about all that .. until it buds out ... if it does NOT ... then the cuts are really important ...


      once we figure out where the buds are ... we can recommend some further cuts ... maybe loping off certain parts.. to get rid of a bunch of bad parts all in one fell swoop ...


      ken

      djacob Z6a SE WI thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
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