Should I purchase a Limelight hydrangea: tree form
livelsberger
14 years ago
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ditas
14 years agoRelated Discussions
tree form limelight
Comments (1)I dunno what they were smoking but it ain't true!! A tree form hydrangea is simply one that has been trained to a single, rather vertical trunk with lower side branching removed. They are not grafted. So if a regular 'Limelight' can be expected to grow to 6-8', a tree form will not get significantly larger. And since it is a form of paniculata, it can be hard pruned if you desire. Pee Gee hydrangeas (H. paniculata 'Grandiflora') can exceed this size and one often finds older, well-established tree forms that reach upto 15' but again, these respond readily to pruning to keep size in check....See MoreWinter-kill Limelight Tree Hydrangea
Comments (2)Tree or standard hydrangeas have to be trained to grow like that. This is the reason they are expensive. The old plant might still make it and might do well. You should mulch it about 3-4" deep and up to the drip line. In your old plant's case, I would extend the mulch 6" from the stem minimum, up to 1'. Limelight blooms on new wood so you might still have blooms. However, it is imperative for the plant to develop a good root system instead during the first 1-2 years. Blooms, if you get them, should be considered icing on the cake....See MoreHow to prune new limelight into tree form?
Comments (5)Three or four years ago, when Vanilla Strawberry was new, I was enamored with the glowing descriptions and thought it would be fun to try to grow a tree form. VS in not known for its strong stems, but of course I didn't know that at the time. I got a great deal on a one-gallon plant with a strong center branch so decided to experiment. I didn't have a spot where I really wanted or "needed" the finished product. I'm glad. For one thing, even if you don't pinch the main stem, next year it will want to branch at the top (at least mine did) and you have to pinch off one side of that growth and try to get the remaining stem to grow straight up. Mine does NOT have a nice straight "trunk" look. I don't know if that will get better as years go by. Also, I seem to have a couple places where the bark looks injured. I'm not sure if I (or the deer) ran into it, or if it's from pruning off side branches. This is the first year I'll have blooms, so I'll see what it does. But the bottom line is that I have three or four years invested in a something that may always have an unattractive trunk, or may have problems from its bark issues. I'm still glad I did it, but my goal was fun and experimentation, and I think I have under $10 invested. I'd think about growing those as shrubs (and I love Limelight!), or returning them and keeping an eye out for a sale on the tree form....See MoreHow long does it take to train a LimeLight into a tree form?
Comments (1)It takes 5 years or more. That is why they are expensive, compared to regular forms. Since somebody has already done the hard work for you, since you will get instant results by buying the tree form shrub, since it sounds like this will not break the bank aaaand since it is marked down in price, I would suggest you buy the tree limelight. Still, call a few other local nurseries to see if they have it for even less. This post was edited by luis_pr on Tue, Sep 24, 13 at 7:56...See Morelivelsberger
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