Greenspire Lime / Linden Trees

• Variety: Greenspire, the narrow Small Leaved Lime for streets and avenues
• Common name: Greenspire Lime, Greenspire Linden
• Latin name: Tilia cordata 'Greenspire'
• Sold as: Bareroot standards, 6/8cm and 8/10cm girth. Pot-grown standard in a 12 litre pot
• Mature size: 15 to 20m tall
• Shape: Narrowly conical, with a single leader
• Flowers: Small, fragrant, pale creamy-yellow, in midsummer
• Foliage: Glossy, dark green, heart shaped, yellow in autumn
• Best soil and site: Moist but well drained soil, neutral to alkaline, chalk and clay included. Sun or partial shade
• Hardiness: H6, hardy through the British winter
• RHS Award of Garden Merit: Yes (1993)
• Wildlife value: RHS Plants for Pollinators
• Plant: Bareroot trees from November to April, pot-grown trees in any month
• Delivered: Bareroot, November to April. Pot-grown, all year when in stock. Collection from Castle Cary also available

Greenspire is a narrowly conical form of the native Small Leaved Lime, with glossy heart-shaped leaves and fragrant creamy-yellow flowers in midsummer. It holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit, is on the RHS Plants for Pollinators list, and grows to between 15 and 20 metres tall.

Greenspire Lime / Linden Trees

Greenspire is a narrow variety of the native Small Leaved Lime with a teardrop-shaped canopy. A medium-sized, upright, neatly cone-headed tree that reliably maintains a single leading stem, perfect for large scale planting in urban areas or lining a driveway. It produces sweet-scented flowers in midsummer, adored by bees. The heart-shaped, glossy green leaves have a pale underside.

Like all limes, it's vigorous. It can reach 15 to 20 metres tall.

Browse our other Lime tree (Tilia) varieties or our full range of trees.

Delivery season: Lime trees are delivered bareroot from late autumn to early spring, November to April.
Choosing a size: Small trees are cheaper, easier to handle and more forgiving of less than ideal aftercare, so they're best for a big planting project. If instant impact is your priority, or if you are only buying a few plants for use in a place where it's convenient to water them well in their first year, then you may as well use bigger ones. All our bareroot trees are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Growing Greenspire Lime Trees

Extremely tough and undemanding, they thrive best on alkaline soils, but mildly acidic soil is fine. They're happy in heavy, compacted clay with paving around them: a town planner's best friend.
They tolerate partial shade well, and are recommended for exposed locations; they won't grow right on the beach, but tolerate salt winds. When established, they're drought tolerant.

Limes respond very well to pruning, and are perfect for pollarding.

History & Trivia

This tree was raised in 1950 from a tree in a Boston park called 'Euclid' and a German lime, and released by Princeton Nurseries, New Jersey, in 1961.

Greenspire is on the RHS Plants for Pollinators list.

Standard trees are measured by their girth in centimetres 1 metre above ground level: their trunk's waist measurement. Unlike sapling trees and hedge plants, standards aren't measured by their height, which will vary quite a bit both between and within species.
So, a 6/8cm standard tree has a trunk with a circumference of 6-8cm and an 8/10 standard has a trunk 8-10cm around. This measurement makes no difference to the tree's final height.
On average, standard trees are 2-3.5 metres tall when they arrive, but we cannot tell you precisely how tall your trees will be before we deliver them.

Planting Companions

Greenspire and the Kaiser Linden are the two street Limes: Greenspire narrowly conical, Kaiser broader. For an avenue with a different leaf, Beech is the other classic, and ours are under Beech trees. More big trees are under trees for large gardens. Dust the roots with Rootgrow as you plant.

Why Ashridge?

Ashridge has sold trees since 1949 and is a Which? Best Plant Supplier 2025. Your Greenspire comes as a bareroot standard, lifted while dormant, or pot-grown to plant in any month. Bareroot trees are guaranteed for 12 months, and so is a potted tree delivered leafless between November and March.

Frequently Asked Questions

How big does a Greenspire Lime grow?

Between 15 and 20 metres tall. It suits parks and very large gardens.

When does a Greenspire Lime flower?

In midsummer. The flowers are small, pale creamy-yellow and fragrant, carried in clusters of up to ten, and Greenspire is on the RHS Plants for Pollinators list.

Why is Greenspire used as a street tree?

Its shape. It is narrowly conical and keeps a single leading stem, so an avenue of them stays even, and it puts up with compacted ground and paving.

What soil does a Greenspire Lime need?

Moist but well drained soil, neutral to alkaline, in sun or partial shade. It grows on chalk, clay, loam and sand, and wants shelter from cold winds.

When are Greenspire Lime trees delivered?

Bareroot standards from November to April, while dormant. The 12 litre pot-grown tree can be delivered in any month when it is in stock. Stake either for two years.