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Poor Laurel Hedge

autumncrisp78autumncrisp78 Posts: 15
in Plants
Hi all. Looking for some advice on helping improve some laurels. They've obviously been in a while as they are all a good 7-8 feet tall but they are all so weedy looking. They are meant to be a nice hedge but they just look like a long row of sad, separate sticks. I don't think they've had much pruning so I'm going to start topping them to encourage filling out, but I'm looking for advice on what I should dig in to the border around their bases to feed them and give them a boost. Based in the UK. Soil isn't great, seems to be fairly damp a lot of the time, but then where isn't at the moment!! So, does anyone have suggestions for what would be best to apply to the soil to help please? Thanks so much.

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    edited April 2023
    It's a common problem when large specimens are planted. They take a long time to establish and fill out if they're aren't cut back from the start. Smaller specimens establish far better.
    They just need any organic matter added as a regular mulch, which will improve the soil over time. Ideally, that would have been done before planting ,but regular additions to improve the soil will help more than anything . They need reasonably decent soil until established, then they cope no problem. They really don't need any extra food  :)

    Wet is fine - they love loads of moisture, but they need reasonably good drainage [as all shrubs do] and then they'll cope with most conditions. Loads of heavy rain encourages lots of growth - that suits them very well. Too well in wetter areas, as it means more trimming   :)


    Here's the , very long, thread with all you'll ever need to know about laurel  ;)
    https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/656523/help-needed-please-with-laurel-hedge-issues/p1
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • autumncrisp78autumncrisp78 Posts: 15
    Thank you, missed that thread. I think they've actually been planted as large specimens and that's why they look so bad. I'll sort it in time. Cheers.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Don’t worry about cutting them right back,  the lower the better,  they’ll be up there again in no time, wherever you cut them down to,  that’s where they’ll thick out from,  so it you only cut the tops,  they’ll only thicken at the tops,  cut about 30cms from the ground and they’ll grown into a thick hedge right from the base.  We cut some down to the ground,  they came up beautifully,  grew about 3’ in the first year. 
    No need to feed laurels.
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

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