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Landscape Design Hydrangeas Trees

Snow damaged limelight hydrangea tree

last year

Hello, just got crushed with over 6’ of snow here in Buffalo, Ny. After the snow started to melt i found my limlight hydrangea tree severly damaged. the tree was planted 2.5 years ago. I am curious if the tree will make it or if its gonna need to be replaced. Thank you!

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Comments (6)

luis_pr
last year
last modified: last year
Limelight is very vigorous and, since the roots were not damaged, it should resume growth in spring even when accidentally cut at the soil line. Yours may take a few seasons to get aesthetically pleasing but it will begin in the spring. Review the growth once every month or once every two months to see if it needs tweaking again at that time. Deadhead the spent blooms as soon as they all go brown in places where there can be a lot of heavy snow in order to reduce stem breakage.
Steven
Original Author
last year
Thank you for the information.
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As promised: FROM A NEWBIEÂS EYE: With all the recent craze for H trees & several ??? Â whether to get this or that in tree form, I decided to take a good look at my 9 H paniculatas Â I'm excluding Unique & Limeligh Â just acquired this Spring, too early to judge their true personalities & Little Lamb, for obvious reasons. As earlier mentioned, I harvested each, a med. sized (avg.) blossom from 2Tardivas Â (planted-FallÂ05), Kyu (SummerÂ06), Quick Fire (SpringÂ07), Pink Diamond (Fall Â07) & AngelÂs Blush (SpringÂ08). As a (forever) newbie Â my vote: #1 Â QF Â for being the earliest bird ... first to break dormancy, lush out, form cluster buds, flash & change color!!! Uprightness in my piece of soil, is the best Â due in part to beautifully formed Â more ovalisque & looser panicles w/ possibly, lesser fertile florets (seeds at maturity) that weigh down the canes Â at this stage of pink, the tips of fertile/seed-like clusters, have a tint of rosy-pink as well! Really pretty, to me!!! #2 Â Toss up between: Pink Diamond & AngelÂs Blush (PDÂs baby) Â PD has daintier panicles than ABÂs, however PD is arching a bit more than AB. Even with 12" panicles on center, taller canes, AB seems able to carry her blossoms more upright! PD has, more uniformly sized, panicles at 7". Also noted that ABÂs leaf formation is all in 3s (ternate, according to bk) PD is usually opposites w/ a few in 3s closer to bases of blossom cluster. AB's sepals, a hint larger than PD's #3 Tardiva & Kyushu both canes arch Â weighed down by blossoms as they mature Â fertile florets mature to seed-like clusters. KyuÂs infertile florets are petite compared to TÂs avg. sized. My tree is Kyushu Â absolutely love her, with all her arching branches & more petite florets!!! FWIW!!!
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Damage to ornamental limelight hydrangea tree
Q
Comments (10)
Yes, unfortunately I am aware of this. We preemptively cut another branch off to the left that was hanging right out over the garage. I noticed a crack and called in a tree company right away. You probably notice that other cut right next to the recent cut. Unfortunately this tree sits at the back of my lot right on the alley line and right next to my driveway. If you’re an arborist, you know what the cost would be to remove the tree. It’s also a box elder which are very difficult to get rid of because they are sucker trees. Also, the neighbors like the shade. I cut off two branches last year because they were so close to their garage roof. What ta do?
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Concerned about my Limelight Hydrangea tree
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Comments (16)
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.
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My Limelight Hydrangea Tree
Q
Comments (31)
Well, I can only speak from my experience. As you can see from my pictures, I did a really hard prune. I am shocked by how beautifully it has grown back and prolifically bloomed. I don’t think removing them will hurt the appearance of the trees. If you want them to maintain a tree structure I would recommend cutting those suckers off either late fall or early spring. Most people say to prune in early spring but it can also be done in fall. Basically, the suckers are taking energy away from the development of the main tree trunk. Removing them will let the energy go into producing the tree, branches and flowers. Also, downward branches, weak/thin branches and crossways branches should be removed. Hope this helps! debra
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floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
last year
I would trim those pieces down to a foot long and stick them all in the ground in a corner somewhere, or in a pot.. You might find you have some new Hydrangeas next year.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last year
i cant make much out of the first pic ...

regardless.. the bottom line is that with no insult to the root mass .. there is no reason it wont rebud and do well next year ...

too many peeps top their plants .. or overshear them.. with little or no long term issues ...

in this case.. god took care of it for you .... so be it ...

buy yourself a good pair of pruning shears.. if you dont have any.. as it might take you a few years to prune it back into a nice shape ...

i suspect this thing might go a bit bat s crazy this year.. and you will want to reduce some if not many new branches towards training it into its new form ...

dont worry about it .

if you already have the hand shears... trim up all the wicked wounds ... cutting just below a spot where a bid will trigger next season ... imo.. wounds are ALWAYS removed on shrubs .... if possible to do it without killing the thing ...

imo.. it will be fine next year ...

ken

ps: im surprised how fast the snow reduced down to what we see in the pic ...
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last year
not that it matters in the least ... hydrangea is a shrub.. and in your case.. its been trained into tree form .. but that doesnt make it a tree ..

but if you want to maintain the tree form.. thats where the pruning comes in ...

so there.. you learned something new today.. and you can now go back to bed as a success .. lol

ken
Steven
Original Author
last year
only in buffalo, NY will you get 6’ of snow in a day and a half and then have 50 degree weather immediatly after to melt it all! haha thanks for all the information!

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