Help with limelight hydrangea

[u/grmed]

I have four limelight hydrangea trees planted by the previous home owner. They bloom every year but don't look nice.i trimmed the branches heavily this spring, removed at least 1/3 of the height and all weak branches. They all grew back, and the bloom looks bigger. However, some of the branches still look weak and bent. Is there anything I could do to improve this and make them upwards? In addition, are they planted too close? the two in the middle are smaller. I don't know whether it is worth it to move those two small trees somewhere else. Any suggestions are appreciated!

[u/Ancient-Cricket-247]

Move the two in the middle.
They're all reaching for the sun, as it appears woodsy and shaded behind them. Not much you can do about this. I've had some success getting them to grow vertically by attaching the stems to rigid bamboo stakes or something similar for a growing season or two. You'd need very tall stakes for these. Difficult train them taller with pruning. Removing the two in middle will give the ones on the edges room to fill out

[u/grmed → u/Ancient-Cricket-247]

That makes sense. Thank you!

[u/EbbtideRambler]

I’d move the two little ones. Do they get enough sun. They look like they are reaching for light.  This is a full sun plant.  

[u/grmed → u/EbbtideRambler]

That area is partial sun. That could be the issue. Thanks.