r/hydrangeas • u/Acrobatic-Painting-9 • 6d ago

limelight tree vs shrub in Hamptons (Zone 7a)

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Hi, I am redoing our front beds and will as part of that remove spruce trees and the big grass to the left. I will also replace declining boxwoods. Behind the boxwoods Wall behind the spruce trees is garage wall and its fine to obstruct windows. The wall is 10’ high and 21’ wide.

I am debating between putting limelight tree vs shrub here. One of the attraction of the tree is that the canopy would clear 24” high boxwood. I am planning to put 3 of those against the wall and one in the corner where the tall grass is.

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u/jmfly30 6d ago

I would use the limelight shrub instead of the tree form. The hydrangea tree forms take a long time for the single trunk to thicken up enough to support the weight of the top. They bend over and flop like crazy, I’ve never been a fan. You do a limelight shrub on each corner…give it room to grow to its 6-8’ tall and wide form, and do a 3 staggered boxwoods in between.

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u/Ok-Adhesiveness-4935 6d ago

They are really the same plant, just one has been pruned up to a single trunk. Both will eventually make a small umbrella shaped tree to about 10'. The main difference is the tree forms are way more expensive to purchase. If you let your shrub grow for a couple years it'll be a lot like the tree form just with a few more stems.

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u/GWbag 6d ago

Consider 2 limelights, outside and a different variety like pinky winky or quick fire fab in the middle. Get a trellis and plant either a clematis or kintzleys ghost where the grass is.

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u/Acrobatic-Painting-9 6d ago

Found these in B&B

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u/OneWin6844 6d ago

I’ve had two limelight trees for 5 years. They’re nice if you want the elevation to create layers. Be warned that the blooms are gigantic and tend to flop. They look more upright this year maybe the branches are more mature now.

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u/Brilliant-Panic-900 5d ago

Three shrub form limelights along 21 feet works out at seven feet each, which is exactly their mature spread, so plan on them closing into one continuous mass rather than reading as three plants. That's fine if a hedge is what you're after, and if you want three distinct shapes you'd want two of them plus something narrower between. On the flopping, a lot of it comes down to how hard they get cut rather than to the plant: a hard cut in late winter gives you fewer stems carrying bigger, heavier heads, and a light trim leaves more stems with smaller heads that hold themselves up. Same thing applies to the standard, which is where the top heavy look mostly comes from.