Good, you can go ahead and prune if they are looking better now! After cutting, give them an organic feed of Blood, Fish and Bone to give them a boost and keep them well watered for a few weeks if there has been no rain. Good luck!
If they're prone to mildew etc, it suggests they're on the dry side. A raised bed will always be drier too. Cherry laurel does best with loads and loads of water. It's why it grows so readily here, and in the west of the country generally. Add plenty of organic matter regularly, which will help with water retention. Raised beds continually settle and drop, so you need to do that anyway.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
And a final tip for you, after pruning, feeding, adding organic matter and watering, I'd recommend that you top your raised bed with chipped bark to retain moisture, making sure that the soil is damp before you do this. Then you can relax!
One thing confused me - I read in an article not to over fertilise - and only do twice a year. That article though was more geared towards flowering than growth.
Just a feed after pruning should be sufficient for established shrubs like yours @Deveshmittal.devesh . The addition of organic matter to the soil and topping it up will also ensure availability of important nutrients throughout the year. You're right, overfeeding can also lead to problems!
I've never fed laurel - or any other hedge. Organic matter applied regularly is far more beneficial. Even with poorer soil, it's not really necessary to add feed. Tough, hardy shrubs and hedging will cope better if they're grown hard. Flowering plants are different
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Amazing. One noob question- organic matter would be same as all purpose compost?
On chips - it such a large area I have - it would be quite impractical and expensive to do chips everywhere. Or did you mean just do it around the roots? If latter - it is so windy it will all fly away and gather at one end
Organic matter means anything which will improve the soil - homemade compost, commercial compost, leaf mould, composted bark, and best of all -rotted manure which can be bought bagged from GCs etc. If you're in a dry area, and you want to use a bark mulch, just water it afterwards. The heavier/chunkier stuff is possibly better. Alternatively, just add the organic matter and water that in. If you add some mulch [which the organic matter technically is] regularly, that will help the soil anyway
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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Add plenty of organic matter regularly, which will help with water retention. Raised beds continually settle and drop, so you need to do that anyway.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Tough, hardy shrubs and hedging will cope better if they're grown hard.
Flowering plants are different
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
If you're in a dry area, and you want to use a bark mulch, just water it afterwards. The heavier/chunkier stuff is possibly better. Alternatively, just add the organic matter and water that in. If you add some mulch [which the organic matter technically is] regularly, that will help the soil anyway
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...