Pruning 3 year old Limelights for 'thick' growth

14 years ago

FYI, I thought I posted this but it doesn't look like it's on the forum. Sorry if double posted ....

Anyways, I have 3 limelights that are now entering their 3rd year in my yard. They were about 2-3 years when I first purchased.

They get some morning shade, but mostly a lot of sun all day and from a western exposure. They look kind of leggy. I planted them about 3 feet apart, hoping they'd fill in and create a privacy screen for neighbor's yard, but they still look kind of leggy.

I've never really pruned them.

What should I do, and when?

I read on a previous thread about a nursery suggesting they get cut down to 24", to produce about 5' of growth by the end of the season. I'd like to keep mine growing higher and thicker.

Thanks in advance.

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Comments (8)

gardenerzone4
14 years ago
I'm curious about the growth habit of your limelights. Does it look anything like in the video link below? Can you post a link to a picture of what your limelights look like? I started the thread about the nursery, and am still trying to figure out how to space the hedge of limelights that I'm planting to create a privacy hedge b/t us and the neighbors. The hedge will be 80 feet long, so I want to get it right. But if yours haven't filled in after 3 years, I'm not sure 5' is close enough...

Here is a link that might be useful: Video of Giant Limelight
ostrich
14 years ago
Hmmm.... my Limelight is about 4 years old now too, and it's a great grower! Last year, I chopped it down to about 2 feet tall in early spring. By the end of summer, it's well over 6 feet tall!

What size were they when you bought them? Mine was about 3 feet tall in a fairly big pot when I bought it so it was a good size already.
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kuriooo
Original Author
14 years ago
My limelights were about 1.5-2' when I bought them from a plant show at the botanical garden a couple of years ago. They don't look anywhere near as thick and lush as the limelight shown in the video, and although they grow each season I'm not getting anything like 4 feet of growth like the previous poster describes.

I have four more limelights in various places around the yard, all planted last year, so I consider they were all 'getting established' last year and will be looking to see what their growth is like this year.

I'll have to look through previous files to see if I have pics to post.
ostrich
14 years ago
kurioo, I just looked at my old photos for you. Please take a look at these photos of my Limelight below:

This was the Limelight in 2006, when it was planted into the ground. So you see that even then, it was a lush and healthy shrub:

This one was from July 2007, a year after it was planted to the ground. At this point, my island was not created yet:

This was a closer look from 2007:

Now, this was from last year, after my island was created. You see how within 2 years this thing just grew and grew! By the end of summer 2009, it was about 6 feet tall:

So, looking back, I have had mine for longer and it was probably a much larger shrub than yours to start with. Also, mine was really not growing rapidly until a couple of years ago, so it took a good couple of years for it to establish itself. So if I were you, I would not worry too much about it... I hope this is helpful! Good luck.
kuriooo
Original Author
14 years ago
Hmm, thanks for the pics, yard / island looks beautiful!

If it takes a couple of years for the plants to really establish, that's fine with me. Although they are rated for sun/ some shade, these three definitely aren't getting "all day" sun due to some pines. Wondering how much that affects things.

Guess I'll really keep an eye out this year to see how they do.
gardenerzone4
14 years ago
Ostrich, having seen the mature size of your Limelight now, if you were to plant a dense screen of them, how closely would you space the plants? From the picture of last year, if LL is 6' tall, then it's about 4' wide? So 4' spacings in b/t plants?

LOVE your pictures, BTW. They were what inspired me to plant a LL hedge.
ostrich
14 years ago
Hi gardenerzone4! I think it's actually about 5 ft wide in the end. Also, when the blooms were more mature and larger, the branches started to arch a bit too, making the shrub seem a little wider too. I think that a 5' spacing would be just fine. There was a discussion on this before - let me try to find that thread.... I think George had some great suggestion there. I'll get back to ya!
ostrich
14 years ago
Gardenerzone4, please take a look at these links that I found. It seems like 5 feet apart sounds about right. Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Limelight spacing

Pruning 3 year old Limelights for 'thick' growth

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Pruning 3 year old Limelights for 'thick' growth

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gardenerzone4

ostrich

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