Sorry to bother you all again but I havent a clue about gardening and still learning a lot from this wonderful forum.
As mentioned in the above post I have 20 3/4ft common Laurels that I plan to create a hedge between 2 Oaktrees. I probably won’t be able to plant them till 3/4 wks later so is it feasible to prune them now to create bushiness or should I do that once planted?
It looks like most have never been ‘stopped’ just one single stem, I would chop about a foot off the tops. Then you need to keep pinching out the tops and side shoots to get the bushiness and growth at the bottom.
Planting them at 2 /3’ in height is perfect.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Thanks very much Lyn, really appreciate your help and everyone else that has replied too. I would never have known how to grow these without everyone’s help here. I would have probably done it all incorrectly and wasted my plants.
Wealth of knowledge here from everyone, so glad I stumbled on this forum.
Another question if you don’t mind. I bought this lovely Aucuba Japonica, the middle stalk is looking a bit leggy. I looked at it today for several minutes with secateurs but couldn’t bring myself to prune it. The top is wonderful and healthy and has some shoots poking out from each leaf but I don’t know if they will grow out. I‘m terrible when it comes to pruning anything, I feel guilty that I’m destroying a beautiful plant. Please advise.
Update! So I finally got around to planting the cherry Laurels. Lots of back breaking work beforehand to get the soil right. 2 days of digging, weeding, raking and clearing stones.
I added some horse manure compost and BFB to the planting hole, then back filled them with mixed horse manure compost and soil, watered them in well and trimmed about 6 inches of the top. But may have made an error!! I didn’t refer back to this thread for planting spaces. I planted them around 18 inches apart as FD said but then realised Lyn said 2 ft apart!
Have I planted them too close?? Do I need to trim more of the top?
They are a bit close but you can always take out every other one as they grow, remember they will get trunks, like trees in a short time. did you cut the tops off, it’s the only way to get a bushy plant, seems drastic but they soon grow, I would cut a third off of those.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
I forgot to refer back to this thread before planting them I could move them further apart tomorrow and will cut a bit more of the top. I only trimmed them by about 6 inches or so.
If you’ve trimmed them, leave them for now. Wait until they start to make side shoots, when they are about 6/8” long, just pick out the top leaves, that will thicken those. I wouldn’t dig them up again now, they look nice and settled. wait a while, see how they go.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Posts
Sorry to bother you all again but I havent a clue about gardening and still learning a lot from this wonderful forum.
As mentioned in the above post I have 20 3/4ft common Laurels that I plan to create a hedge between 2 Oaktrees. I probably won’t be able to plant them till 3/4 wks later so is it feasible to prune them now to create bushiness or should I do that once planted?
Thank you to everyone for your help.
It looks like most have never been ‘stopped’ just one single stem, I would chop about a foot off the tops. Then you need to keep pinching out the tops and side shoots to get the bushiness and growth at the bottom.
Planting them at 2 /3’ in height is perfect.
Thank you Lyn, I will get to trimming them tomorrow. Should I plant them 2ft apart or 3ft?
2ft I would think is best if you have enough, they will fill out and each will grow huge, but you will need to wait. Bit more instant hedge at 2ft.
Thanks very much Lyn, really appreciate your help and everyone else that has replied too. I would never have known how to grow these without everyone’s help here. I would have probably done it all incorrectly and wasted my plants.
Wealth of knowledge here from everyone, so glad I stumbled on this forum.
Another question if you don’t mind. I bought this lovely Aucuba Japonica, the middle stalk is looking a bit leggy. I looked at it today for several minutes with secateurs but couldn’t bring myself to prune it. The top is wonderful and healthy and has some shoots poking out from each leaf but I don’t know if they will grow out. I‘m terrible when it comes to pruning anything, I feel guilty that I’m destroying a beautiful plant. Please advise.
Last edited: 15 February 2018 20:55:46
I added some horse manure compost and BFB to the planting hole, then back filled them with mixed horse manure compost and soil, watered them in well and trimmed about 6 inches of the top. But may have made an error!! I didn’t refer back to this thread for planting spaces. I planted them around 18 inches apart as FD said but then realised Lyn said 2 ft apart!
Have I planted them too close?? Do I need to trim more of the top?
Thank you you in advance.
Can you also please give me some ideas on trailing plants that would trail down to cover the unsightly mound of earth before the log roll edging.
Thank you very much. x
did you cut the tops off, it’s the only way to get a bushy plant, seems drastic but they soon grow, I would cut a third off of those.
I forgot to refer back to this thread before planting them
Thanks for your reply x