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Laurel spacing

shipley92shipley92 Posts: 19
in Plants
Hi everyone, i’ve recently planted some established laurels around 3.5ft apart. Just wanting some information as to whether or not this will be fine okay to provide sufficent privacy hedging when they have fully developed or are they too far apart?

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Hi … this thread has the combined wisdom of the forum and all you ever needed to know about growing a laurel hedge 

    https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/656523/help-needed-please-with-laurel-hedge-issues/p1 

    Hope that’s helpful 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • shipley92shipley92 Posts: 19

    Thats how they’re spaced at the moment
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I think that’ll be fine long term, but if you want the growth to thicken I’d reduce the height by at least half in the spring. 
    I know it seems counter-intuitive but remember the old saying ‘growth follows the knife’. 
    Cutting them hard back will promote thicker growth and you’ll be surprised how quickly it happens. 
    Just read the thread I posted and look at the before and after  pictures of the hedges that were cut back 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Make sure they have copious amounts of water too. Even in wetter areas, that foliage prevents the rain getting in as well as it should, and large specimens need lots of water for establishment.  :)
    If you live in the west of the UK, you don't need to worry quite so much... :D
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • shipley92shipley92 Posts: 19
    Thank you all for your help. My main concern is make sure there will sufficient coverage for privacy reasons
  • LunarSeaLunarSea Posts: 1,923
    You couldn't really have planted them any closer together. Prunus rotundifolia is essentially a tree (we've got some that have been allowed to grow as such) so you'll have absolutely no trouble with them filling out, assuming the ground they're in is good and they're not shaded or out-competed you'll most certainly get your privacy screen.
    Clay soil - Cheshire/Derbyshire border. 

    I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    That's why large specimens are often a waste of money for hedging as they benefit from cutting back, as @Dovefromabove mentioned, in order to get a bushier plant lower down. Those are very sparse. 
    Smaller plants are cheaper, and you can plant closer, and keep them in better shape from the start. However, for your purposes that won't matter quite so much if you just want some general height  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • LunarSeaLunarSea Posts: 1,923
    These are our Laurels I mentioned earlier. They are giving us privacy from next door's windows on the right (our side boundary) and from the houses behind us (the laurels on the left of the image). The spacing of the latter ones is greater than the OP mentioned and they were never trimmed when young. Soil is heavy clay.


    Clay soil - Cheshire/Derbyshire border. 

    I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
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