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Portuguese laurel hedge

stramorebeesJXXh9s9GstramorebeesJXXh9s9G Posts: 4
in Problem solving
Hello all,

I have a portuguese laurel hedge that was planted about 10 years ago. It has done really well up to about 3 years ago when it doesn't seem to keep the same volume of leaves and I can now see through the hedge and it looks very bare. 

It's about 7ft high and 2.5 ft wide.
There is a brown spot on some of the leaves and some have holes in them.

I was thinking of hard pruning the sides to encourage new growth, (to about 1.5 ft width) but afraid in case it does more harm than good.

I have the hedge in good soil and conditions with watering etc would be fine.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated

Regards
Robert 

Posts

  • K67K67 Posts: 2,506
    Generally if you cut the height it will grow outwards and if you cut the width it will grow up.
    You could reduce the height a bit and then the width gradually.
  • stramorebeesJXXh9s9GstramorebeesJXXh9s9G Posts: 4
    I've added a few photos showing the hedge at the moment.
    Thanks all. 
  • K67K67 Posts: 2,506
    Wow thats a lot of hedge, not sure there is much you can do. There is a lot of dead wood in the centre but most hedges do this.
    You could try taking a few feet off the height this year and I would normally say keep it well watered and give it a feed and mulch but there is just so much of it!
  • stramorebeesJXXh9s9GstramorebeesJXXh9s9G Posts: 4
    Hi K67, thanks for your reply. The centre is bare because it didn't have much light when the hedge was in good shape. I'd really love to cut it down hard and from what I read, laurel is good at taking a hard pruning.. Just afraid to do it in case it doesn't sprout back up! 
  • K67K67 Posts: 2,506
    Interesting read here. So ......https://www.edp24.co.uk/lifestyle/portuguese-laurel-how-to-cut-it-back-505240
  • stramorebeesJXXh9s9GstramorebeesJXXh9s9G Posts: 4
    Thanks for the link..
    Looking at this, the hedge is able to withstand a really hard trimming..  ;)
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