Limelight hydrangea

Planting Limelight hydrangea

• Start by digging a hole twice the width of your Limelight hydrangea root ball and roughly the same depth of the root ball. Your plant should be just slightly higher than the surrounding soil.

• Backfill the hole with soil halfway and pour water into the hole until it rises to the top. After it fully drains away, finish filling in the rest of the soil. If you do not have well-draining soil, you’ll want to plant your Limelight hydrangea tree in a 24-inch mound to make sure it doesn’t get soggy roots.

• To maintain evenly moist soil, water every week to 10 days. Do not overwater—only give your Limelight hydrangea water when the top two inches of soil are dry. You can test this by inserting your index finger into the surrounding soil to check for moisture.

1 Gal. Limelight Hardy Hydrangea $40

        grows to 6'-8' , plant 6' on center

        Buy four= $160

1 Gal. Limelight 'Prime' Hydrangea $40

        grows 4-6', plant 5' on center

        Buy five = $200

Plant 6' (or 5') on center between the house and driveway, leaving space for walkway to the back door. Amend soil well as it likes loamy soil. Use one bag each of compost.

‘Limelight’ hydrangeas bloom on new wood. This means that their flower buds are not formed until spring has sprung. This gives you some wiggle room with your pruning schedule.

You may choose to prune in the fall when all of the flowers have passed, or you can prune them in the springtime before any new growth appears. Cut the stalks to about a foot in height.

You can also ignore the advice to prune your hydrangeas every year. It is not necessary. In fact, ‘Limelight’ hydrangeas have such large flowers the older stalks provide excellent support for the new stems.