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Newly planted portuguese laurel hedge

kerrimcmkerrimcm Posts: 8
in Plants
Hi everyone 👋
I just planted 90 portuguese laurels about 4 weeks ago. The ground had been prepared with chicken manure pellets and farmhouse manure soil 6 weeks previously. 
I just bought fish blood and bone pellets, should I start using it now or would the ground be fertilized enough from the previous fertilizers? 
Grateful for any advice 😊

Posts

  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    edited May 2023
    There will be sufficient nutrients in the soil now, you have prepared your soil well. The most important thing is to keep the soil well watered while the roots are establishing.  The amount of water needed will depend on the size of your plants and the retention quality of your soil which should be moist but not waterlogged.  Good luck and welcome!
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • kerrimcmkerrimcm Posts: 8
    edited May 2023
    Thank you so much for the reply and welcome @Plantminded 😊 
    I hear of others feeding plants once a month during growing season, will I need to do this or would too much fertilizer harm the hedge as it's still young? 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    No - don't feed your hedging. A general feed at planting time is all that's needed if the soil has been properly prepped. Too much food is unnecessary and can be counter productive as it leads to too much soft growth which the roots can't support at that early stage.  :)
    You seem to have done that initial prep well, so just concentrate on making sure they aren't short of water over summer [they're still establishing, and will be for a few months] as @Plantminded has said, and you can mulch them too which helps to preserve the moisture. Bark is ideal, but any organic matter is fine. When you water, make sure it's thorough every few days or so, and not a trickle every day which is also bad for the root system as it encourages them to stay near the surface .  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • kerrimcmkerrimcm Posts: 8
    Thank you very much for the advice @Fairygirl. Would you recommend watering even now, (there have still been a few days during the week with a couple of hours rainfall) or would that rainfall not be enough to get properly down through to the roots? 
    Sorry if this is a silly question, I think I'm so nervous about doing something wrong that I'm overthinking everything 😅 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Not a silly question at all @kerrimcm - and watering is quite difficult to advise on, because we're  not seeing your site or the size of the plants etc.  :)
    The best thing to do is stick your fingers down into the soil beside one or two of them. If the soil's still damp by the time you're an inch or two down, they don't need watering. 
    It's hard to overwater them if the prep's been good and there's no problem with the drainage. It's only difficult if that drainage isn't right, as it's then easy to over or under water. 
    If you've had a couple of hours of decent rainfall, that should be fine for a couple of days, but it's always worth checking them as wind can also dry soil out, just as much as sun/heat, and if there's other planting around them , that's competition for the moisture too.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • kerrimcmkerrimcm Posts: 8
    I'll definitely use that tip and test the soil out tomorrow, thank you very much for all the advice @Fairygirl 😊
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