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Laurel Hedging

OldHouseNewHouseOldHouseNewHouse Posts: 38
in Plants
Hi

I have planted a laurel hedge and didn't put any bonemeal in the bottom of the hole.

What fertiliser would be recommended to put on the top of the soil around the hedging. 

Thanks

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Laurel hedging doesn't really need anything if the area was well prepped before planting.
    You can add some Blood Fish and Bone in spring if you want - just a very light sprinkling around it, and then mulch with anything suitable- bark, compost etc, but a layer of compost or similar is enough to keep the soil healthy. I've never fed any hedging after the initial prep of the border.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • OldHouseNewHouseOldHouseNewHouse Posts: 38
    Fairygirl said:
    Laurel hedging doesn't really need anything if the area was well prepped before planting.
    You can add some Blood Fish and Bone in spring if you want - just a very light sprinkling around it, and then mulch with anything suitable- bark, compost etc, but a layer of compost or similar is enough to keep the soil healthy. I've never fed any hedging after the initial prep of the border.  :)
    Thanks for advice, did you add anything to the laurel when planting?
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I've never planted a laurel hedge as such, only individual specimens, but I've planted plenty of other hedges, and I only added a very light sprinkle of BF&B when prepping. Nothing after that. As I said - it really isn't necessary. Watering is far more important for a new hedge.  :)

    Better to feed the soil each year with a mulch.   :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • ErgatesErgates Posts: 2,953
    We put in quite a length of laurel hedging over ten years ago, and I don’t remember doing anything apart from digging the holes, and plenty of watering the first year. After that, it’s been more a case of cutting it back. Once they got settled, they’ve just grown like weeds. Haven’t fed them since.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Yes - laurel grows like a weed here too - likes the climate  ;)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Same here,  I’ve got plants growing out of a stone wall/bank, hardly any soil.
    they love our acid soil but they’ll grow anywhere. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Indeed @Lyn. Keeping them in check is more of a problem.

    I hacked one back a couple of months ago [I use it as a windbreak] and there was nothing but thick stumps around a foot high. It's completely green, and already put on about a foot of upward growth, despite the drier conditions this year. I did the same with another one, not long before that, to move it in behind the shed [another windy corner] and it's a couple of feet high despite being in shade almost all day, and with zero attention.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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