Limelight Hydrangeas | Gardening 101

Hello Friends!! I am so excited to talk about todays topic with you because it truly has been a labor of love! I had to go back and check to be sure, but it has only been 6 years since we planted our row of limelight hydrangeas in our backyard, and today they are over 7ft. tall! I’ve been sharing a lot in my stories on IG, but wanted to bring the conversation over here, and have all my tips saved in one spot! I’m sharing facts and answering questions all about our limelight hydrangeas – come take a look~

Friends, to even be sharing with you the growth we’ve had with our limelight bushes feels unreal! When we planted these bushes as babies 6 years ago, I couldn’t even fathom the potential of them being full grown, never mind in less 6 years. I had no prior experience with gardening and landscaping of any kind, just an inspirational photo of a wall of hydrangeas called – Limelight’s.

Let’s start with the Facts :

• We planted 13 limelight hydrangeas in a row on a slight slope in our backyard, to create a hedge (or wall), in lieu of installing a fence. We wanted privacy when we were in our backyard from our neighbors next to us, and a barrier to keep our kids balls from always rolling down the hill.
• They came in 1 gallon containers and were about 12″ tall.
• We spaced each limelight hydrangea about 3 feet apart (center of plant to center of plant), starting about 3 feet away from our house.
• I chose limelights because after researching many different options, limelights promised the quickest growth, and the least amount of maintenance. Some articles stated they were extremely hardy and grew like weeds.
• We live in southern New Hampshire, and are considered Zone 4 – Zone 5 due to the elevation of our town.

Before:

I’ll be honest, the first year I just watched them, and tried to water them on a regular basis, but with a 4 yr. old and 2 yr. old, I didn’t always get out there. The second year they came back nice and strong despite my greatest efforts to maintain regular watering the year before.

They were planted in full sunlight, in well drained soil – thanks to that slope, but other than watering here and there, we did nothing else to expedite growth.

3rd Year Growth

By the 3rd year they were up to my shoulders. I’m 5’6, and these bushes that started out as babies barely a foot tall, had grown to over 4 feet by the start of their 3rd year in the ground.

End of Season 3rd Year

At this point I hadn’t done any pruning because I’ll be honest – I was scared. With no prior gardening skills, I was so afraid to hurt them, I didn’t even think about pruning them to promote growth.

I decided to trim the bushes back that fall – SCARED, I might add! But I figured, worst case scenario I would just stunt their growth, and they would still at least be the same height they were that 3rd year.

Well guess what?! That following year they came back with a vengeance! They nearly tripled in size again – in ONE year! They went from being just about my shoulder height to at least a foot over my head!

Each branch I pruned, bore 3 new shoots that following year! I was in shock honestly. I couldn’t believe that where I had cut back the previous fall, promoted so much growth! Even more so I couldn’t believe I was so scared of pruning these bushes, when honestly they thrived in being pruned.

Pruning Tips :

• Limelights can be cut back by up to a 1/3 the size of the bush every year.
• Pruning back in the fall after the flowers have fully bloomed will give you the best growth for the next year.
• When cutting blooms, you want to cut just above the leaves. This will promote those leaves to come back as new branches the following year.

Other Fun Facts about Limelight Hydrangeas

• Their name is Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’ (common name Panicle hydrangea)- just check with your local nursery to see if they sell them in your area or you can buy them online at Amazon.
• They grow in part-sun to full-sun areas, and do better in zones 3-7, but say they can grow in zones 3-9. *If I were in a southern state I would NOT plant these in full-sun.*
• Limelight flowers begin to bud in early July, producing full booms that start as a light green / white hue, transitioning to all white by August, and then transitioning into a dusty pink once cooler temps hit in the fall. Blooms last through mid-October and can be cut and dried.
• Limelights grow to be 6-8′ tall.

Be sure to check out my stories on Instagram under “highlights” to see more live shots of me talking about these amazing plants.

So many have asked for more tips and ideas on help with landscaping, so I’m putting together a post of my favorite go-to plants. If you have any questions, or want help with, send my your questions, and I will be sure to include them in my next landscaping post!

And if you are wanting more gardening inspiration, follow along with me on Pinterest, for even more landscaping ideas~