Hi Naf, I'm wondering how large this area is? The nannyberry is more of a large shrub than a tree. I keep mine pruned sort of into a multi trunked tree shape. I love it. Suckering does happen, but hasn't been a huge issue for me. Everyone who sees it in the fall wants one. But it probably needs good sun for a fall display of colour. In the last couple of years I've had a mildew problem on it. I've thinned it out somewhat and am hoping that helps. I'm mentioning this, because you might consider whether it will get good air circulation where you're considering planting it. Here's an old picture of mine taken from my kitchen window.

I actually called Deborah and she was kind enough to talk to me about the spacing (before I saw your post). You're right, she said to space them 30 inches to 42 inches. This is WAY closer than most advice offered on this forum for planting--some even suggested planting 6 feet apart! Luckily, I planted mine 4 feet apart. She said that at my spacing, it'll take an extra year to fill in--3 instead of 2 years--but it'll still connect. My hedge runs east to west--not a perfect east to west, but close enough, along an open fence (wrought iron type), so no issues with sunlight. I will take plenty to pictures--they're beginning to leaf out now--and document this adventure. She also explained the pruning. At the end of pruning, the pruned shrub should look like an egg laying on its side--squat and oval--so sunlight permeates everywhere. She said that where there is sunlight, there are flowers, so you want the sunlight to hit all the way to the base of the plant.

This is such a helpful post!! I've just read through all the comments/photos. I'm feeling stuck and my husband says I'm overthinking things (true), but I just don't want to make the wrong decision. We are doing a complete overhaul in the front entrance to our tudor-cottage style house. My original plan was to plant Annabelles, with boxwood in front, along the new path to our front door. This is on the north side of the house, getting sun in the afternoon. We're in zone 5b (western MA) and we get lots of snow. A landscaper at our local nursery came out to look at the area and suggested limelights, with a long hedge of little limes to go along the west side of our home (not shown below). I know LLs are hardy, beautiful, etc, but my one major concern is that no matter how much we prune, they will always be HUGE. (I love everyone's photos--and I think in another location, I would have no issue with them getting so big.) As you see, we have two windows about 5 ft from the ground, and I do not want them totally covered up over time. The new pea gravel pathway to the front door will span the length of the steps (7 ft), then the boxwoods will go in (2-3 ft), and the hydrangeas behind them. I'm not sure there's enough room (width) to the house if they get super big. (By the way, we ripped EVERYTHING out in this area so it's just an empty blank slate right now. When we bought the house, it had an oversized tree and lots of old ferns/astilbes and it was just overgrown/a mess. It looks quite sad at the moment.) I'd like to move forward with our plan and get these hydrangeas planted within the month, so I need to make my final decision. What would you do? Plant LLs because they're low-maintenance and just prune hard each year? Can I realistically keep them to around 5 ft tall/wide?? Or will I regret this in 5 years? If I don't do LLs, will I also hate myself if I go with Annabelles? They fit better but I know they're more maintenance. Thanks for any thoughts you have on this!

Hi Birdie, Sounds like the normal look for limelight hydrangea shrubs. In time (probably by next season) it will fill out and look more like a shrub/bush. Training a paniculata into a tree form takes years of pruning and know-how, it doesn't happen by accident nor does it occur naturally as far as I know. Some good advice I've gotten is to prune it back by half of it's size each late winter/early spring. I also prune off all of the little skinny weak twigs and leave only the stronger stiffer stems. This helps to produce stronger structure and larger blooms. I love this plant and I'm sure you will only like it better next season.....yg