You called Fairygirl. See my laurel below. Suggest that once the height and thickness of your laurel hedge has been attained then be sure to keep it that way as it can grow 2ft or more a year and once that happens it can quickly lose it's shape and become ugly. I trim mine when it suits me and when I have the time. As has been mentioned I trim by hand one piece at a time. If shears are used the cut leaves look a mess.
Yours look healthy and seems to have settled well.
So, to clarify, should I cut any of my Laurels? The ones at the back maybe? Or just leave them all for now?
And is it OK to cut at this time of year?
Yeah, the neighbours were awful, we actually sold our house to move, but then couldn't find anything within school catchment to move to, then the neighbours suddenly moved out! So now we're staying and have requested a better tenant from the housing association people that own the flats. We weren't the only neighbours to complain or have runnings with these people - they were really vile people, unfortunately.
Still, it would be nice to have that additional separation from that garden and also perhaps introduce a bit more shade into the garden, as in summer it's like a hot box.
I just hope these Laurels survive until then, and don't go the same way as the ones that were previously there. (I have improved the ground since then.)
I bought some more compost and manure earlier - would it be worth pushing back the bark and putting some manure underneath, or just leave it?
If they were mine @russell_jefferiesSoh53k_P I would just trim back the stems that go beyond where you want them to be ultimately. I would trim mine now if they needed it.
It's difficult to answer your last paragraph, how much is enough? If you feel that you've improved the soil enough then leave it until the spring. If not then add it now.
Yes - just trim now. I'm sure I said at the start that you can cut back at any time, unless you were getting some severe frosts over the next few days. Even then, any brown, frosted ends can be taken off later. It's not a major problem. I took off some manky leaves today on one that I have as a partial windbreak.
I wouldn't bother messing about with pushing back the bark. It's very easy to become a bit paranoid. If the ground was well enough prepped on planting, they should be fine. You can chuck some stuff on in spring, when the bark may have broken down a bit anyway
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
If they're rocking a bit in the wind, just keep checking them to see that they're well firmed in. It's another disadvantage of larger specimens - the top growth means they're unbalanced until the roots get properly established, and that'll take a while. There just isn't enough to anchor them yet. If you feel it's going to be a problem, you could stake them, but it probably isn't necessary. Ideally - you'd cut them back a bit though, to make that establishment process easier for them.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Hi folks, so I chopped my Laurels back at the front of the house and they look happy, with new shoots popping out just below where I cut already.
However, the situation at the back of the house is far more dire.
Of the 4 I put in, 3 are doing very badly. 1 is happy and has new shoots coming though.
Previously in this space we had some bamboo and a smoke plant, plus a few other things. The bamboo we got rid of, the smoke plant suddenly died and the other two plants we moved.
The first round of Laurels I put in their place didn't do well, two died and I put one at the front of the house, where it's now doing much better.
This is the second round and I bought bigger Laurels, hoping to get a screen up quicker. I recently trimmed them all back to encourage thicker growth as per advice on here, but there's no new growth yet, they're just constantly dropping yellow leaves.
When I put these latest ones in I put a load of clay breaker down, mixed compost and manure in with the soil and put bone meal down as well - basically everything I could think of to try to improve the clay soil. However, the plants still don't seem happy.
Any ideas what the problem could be? The garden is south facing, so there's no shortage of sun and the soil seems to be plenty moist.
Help! Sorry for the junk photos. The pic of all the plants in a row was apparently too big and it has decided to orient most of them sideways for some reason.
Difficult to say. It sounds as if you've done all the right things and I assume you're giving plenty of water. It can be drier than you think at the base of a south-facing fence.
The fact that the smoke bush that was there before also died makes me wonder if there could be some particular problem like soil contamination but I have no experience of that so I can't really comment further. Another possibility could be serious competition from the roots of something on the other side of the fence - what's over there, do you know?
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
There's nothing the other side of the fence but a ton of weeds and dandelions.
The previous occupants kept a dog in the garden in a tiny hutch and we weren't on good terms with them. (They were vile people.) So I do wonder if they poured something over/under the fence before leaving, just to be spiteful. They let their garden go to ruin, so they wouldn't have cared.
I mixed in so much new soil that I'd be surprised though. And they didn't seem to start dying immediately.
I think they have enough water - they started going like this through torrential rain, so I doubt the soil is dry.
I'm tempted to move them to the front again and buy yet more Laurels, but this time perhaps remove all the soil and add completely fresh manure and compost.
If that doesn't work then I have no idea what to do!
Posts
See my laurel below. Suggest that once the height and thickness of your laurel hedge has been attained then be sure to keep it that way as it can grow 2ft or more a year and once that happens it can quickly lose it's shape and become ugly.
I trim mine when it suits me and when I have the time. As has been mentioned I trim by hand one piece at a time. If shears are used the cut leaves look a mess.
Yours look healthy and seems to have settled well.
So, to clarify, should I cut any of my Laurels? The ones at the back maybe? Or just leave them all for now?
And is it OK to cut at this time of year?
Yeah, the neighbours were awful, we actually sold our house to move, but then couldn't find anything within school catchment to move to, then the neighbours suddenly moved out! So now we're staying and have requested a better tenant from the housing association people that own the flats. We weren't the only neighbours to complain or have runnings with these people - they were really vile people, unfortunately.
Still, it would be nice to have that additional separation from that garden and also perhaps introduce a bit more shade into the garden, as in summer it's like a hot box.
I just hope these Laurels survive until then, and don't go the same way as the ones that were previously there. (I have improved the ground since then.)
I bought some more compost and manure earlier - would it be worth pushing back the bark and putting some manure underneath, or just leave it?
It's difficult to answer your last paragraph, how much is enough? If you feel that you've improved the soil enough then leave it until the spring. If not then add it now.
I took off some manky leaves today on one that I have as a partial windbreak.
I wouldn't bother messing about with pushing back the bark. It's very easy to become a bit paranoid. If the ground was well enough prepped on planting, they should be fine.
You can chuck some stuff on in spring, when the bark may have broken down a bit anyway
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
If you feel it's going to be a problem, you could stake them, but it probably isn't necessary. Ideally - you'd cut them back a bit though, to make that establishment process easier for them.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
This is the second round and I bought bigger Laurels, hoping to get a screen up quicker. I recently trimmed them all back to encourage thicker growth as per advice on here, but there's no new growth yet, they're just constantly dropping yellow leaves.
When I put these latest ones in I put a load of clay breaker down, mixed compost and manure in with the soil and put bone meal down as well - basically everything I could think of to try to improve the clay soil. However, the plants still don't seem happy.
Any ideas what the problem could be? The garden is south facing, so there's no shortage of sun and the soil seems to be plenty moist.
Help!
Sorry for the junk photos. The pic of all the plants in a row was apparently too big and it has decided to orient most of them sideways for some reason.
The previous occupants kept a dog in the garden in a tiny hutch and we weren't on good terms with them. (They were vile people.) So I do wonder if they poured something over/under the fence before leaving, just to be spiteful. They let their garden go to ruin, so they wouldn't have cared.
I mixed in so much new soil that I'd be surprised though. And they didn't seem to start dying immediately.
I think they have enough water - they started going like this through torrential rain, so I doubt the soil is dry.
I'm tempted to move them to the front again and buy yet more Laurels, but this time perhaps remove all the soil and add completely fresh manure and compost.
If that doesn't work then I have no idea what to do!