A pleached lime is a lime (linden) tree whose branches are trained along a frame of battens or wire into a single flat plane and kept in that plane by pruning. The result is a tree that behaves like a green screen: wide and tall, but barely any depth.
The same technique applied to fruit is called espalier; with other species you get pleached beech, pleached plane or pleached hornbeam. The lime (usually Tilia europaea or Tilia platyphyllos) is popular because it tolerates hard pruning exceptionally well and reshoots in the same place year after year.
Why use a pleached lime against a building?
A pleached lime in front of a south- or west-facing elevation acts as seasonal shading. In summer the foliage filters the sun and keeps the facade and the room behind it cooler; in winter the tree stands bare and lets the low sun straight through. That is the exact opposite of a fixed canopy, which throws the same shadow all year.
Pleached limes are also used as a privacy screen above a fence, to mark a drive or boundary, and along avenues in public space where the crown must stay clear of facades or services.
Practical points
- Choose the clear stem height to suit eye level. For a screen above a fence a clear stem of roughly 180 to 220 cm is usual; the foliage panel then starts just above the boundary fence.
- Spacing. For a continuous screen allow roughly 2 to 3 metres between stems, depending on the width of the frame supplied.
- The frame is temporary. The bamboo or steel frame guides the branches for the first years. After roughly five to ten years the fused branch structure carries itself and the frame can go. Check the ties annually: tight wire or twine cuts into the branch and girdles it.
- Pruning. A pleached tree needs maintenance or it loses its shape. The usual approach is an annual winter prune (bare, so the form is visible) plus a summer tidy if needed.
- Distance to the facade. Keep at least roughly 1 to 1.5 metres so the branches do not touch the wall and air can move behind the screen.
- Honeydew. Limes are prone to aphids, whose honeydew leaves a sticky deposit on terraces, cars and facades. Silver lime (Tilia tomentosa) is known to be less susceptible.
- Boundary distances. Rules on how close a tree may be planted to a boundary vary by country and, often, by local authority. Check the local rules and any tree protection order before planting.
- Cost. A pleached lime is not a cheap tree, precisely because it has been grown and trained in the nursery for years. Expect several hundred euros or pounds per tree, rising steeply with girth.
Related terms
- Boundary fence
- Facade planting
- Green facade
- Canopy / overhang
- Tree (building context)
- Tree pit
- Climate-adaptive building
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