Hi Steve. If you've prepared the ground well before planting they shouldn't really need anything more just now. A lot depends on the conditions where you've planted them .You could give them a sprinkling of general fertiliser of your choice if you didn't do that at the time. Blood, fish and bone is my personal favourite, but use whatever you prefer. Just make sure they don't dry out if you're having hot weather but don't drown them either! A mulch after watering is beneficial to preserve moisture in hot dry weather. Bigger hedging plants often take longer to establish than smaller ones so you could cut them back a bit if they look like they're struggling at all.
Deborah - I know this is probably too late for a reply but yes - I'd cut them back a good bit if you haven't already done that. The weather conditions, the site and the time of year you planted would have made it difficult for them to establish well. As I said to Steve- bigger plants take longer to establish anyway. Cutting them back will encourage more growth lower down.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I have a Laurel hedge planted last year, they are on average about 4ft tall now. They are sarting to look a little wispy, when should I do my first prune and how much so that I can get a strong dense hedge? I am new to hedging so know very little about their upkeep but I am learning fast.
Laurel is a pretty tough plant, would not be too concerned with giving it a trim now. With all hedging if you leave for too long before trimming it will take a few trims to get it back into shape and good health. Not really my specialist subject, but I have, to my sins, cut back laurel in late november before...
i have a large laurel which has been trimmed into a large lollipop shape over the years it is a multi stemmed planed but it seams to be overtaking the boarder, I want to reduce it and still retain the lollipop shape can I do this? Will new growth grow from stems that have been heavily pruned? If not then I may have to resort to exposing more of the bare wood at the base to allow other plans to have a chance.
You will get some new growth from pruned stems but you should be able to keep on top of it. I 'lifted up the skirt' of a laurel last year so that I could underplant. It is now shooting from the cut stems at ground level, but it will be easy enough to cut the new shoots back again. Just keep pruning yours to shape whenever it's needed - they are very resilient plants and no amount of pruning would kill them.
I have a laurel hedge, planted approx.5 years ago. It has grown well with nice dark green shiny leaves and I keep it trimmed at about 5 ft. This year the leaves are yellowish and brown edges and keep falling off. The hedge looks poor and sparse. I have fertilised it a number of times with a general balanced fertiliser, also a liquid ericaceous feed and a soluble iron feed. It has not responded and at present looks pretty sad! Am I doing something wrong? Can anyone help
I have holes in my Laurel hedges. I don't mean the leaves, I mean the density of the hedges. There are holes in the growth. My hedges have been there for many years and have grown to a height that the light is not getting to lower parts of the hedge, and that is where most of the gaps are. Any Advice?
Sounds like it is time for a major rejuvenation for your hedges. Unfortunately that requires drastic action such as cutting the whole hedge down to about 30cm and letting it start again. If that is a step too far then maybe making sure that the hedge has a good batter (A-shape) will get more light to the lower gaps. Don't be afraid of being brutal when pruning, they will recover very quickly.
Most of the big laurel hedges near me have vertical sides and have been allowed to get far too big in both height and width but people can't seem to bring themselves to take control. Laurels want to be full grown trees so need to be regularly maintained if you just want a hedge.
My laurel bush is one of the toughest plants I have ever encountered.
However, it seems that every new leaf (since this spring) invariably curls over on itself to one long side, goes a bit yellow and if you turn it over there is a horrible cottony, webby, white mess within the curled bit...with something rather gross living in it!
None of the old leaves have it, presumably because they're not tender enough to curl up...
What on earth is this and can I get rid of it, aside from cutting off all new growth, please?
Sorry to hijack thread, but with so many laurel growers out there I was hoping somebody may have seen this too
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hi iv just planted a laurel hedge for privacy,there about 4 ft tall can you tell me the best feed for them ,thanks
Hi Steve. If you've prepared the ground well before planting they shouldn't really need anything more just now. A lot depends on the conditions where you've planted them .You could give them a sprinkling of general fertiliser of your choice if you didn't do that at the time. Blood, fish and bone is my personal favourite, but use whatever you prefer. Just make sure they don't dry out if you're having hot weather but don't drown them either! A mulch after watering is beneficial to preserve moisture in hot dry weather. Bigger hedging plants often take longer to establish than smaller ones so you could cut them back a bit if they look like they're struggling at all.
Deborah - I know this is probably too late for a reply but yes - I'd cut them back a good bit if you haven't already done that. The weather conditions, the site and the time of year you planted would have made it difficult for them to establish well. As I said to Steve- bigger plants take longer to establish anyway. Cutting them back will encourage more growth lower down.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I have a Laurel hedge planted last year, they are on average about 4ft tall now. They are sarting to look a little wispy, when should I do my first prune and how much so that I can get a strong dense hedge? I am new to hedging so know very little about their upkeep but I am learning fast.
Laurel is a pretty tough plant, would not be too concerned with giving it a trim now. With all hedging if you leave for too long before trimming it will take a few trims to get it back into shape and good health. Not really my specialist subject, but I have, to my sins, cut back laurel in late november before...
i have a large laurel which has been trimmed into a large lollipop shape over the years it is a multi stemmed planed but it seams to be overtaking the boarder, I want to reduce it and still retain the lollipop shape can I do this? Will new growth grow from stems that have been heavily pruned? If not then I may have to resort to exposing more of the bare wood at the base to allow other plans to have a chance.
You will get some new growth from pruned stems but you should be able to keep on top of it. I 'lifted up the skirt' of a laurel last year so that I could underplant. It is now shooting from the cut stems at ground level, but it will be easy enough to cut the new shoots back again. Just keep pruning yours to shape whenever it's needed - they are very resilient plants and no amount of pruning would kill them.
I have a laurel hedge, planted approx.5 years ago. It has grown well with nice dark green shiny leaves and I keep it trimmed at about 5 ft. This year the leaves are yellowish and brown edges and keep falling off. The hedge looks poor and sparse. I have fertilised it a number of times with a general balanced fertiliser, also a liquid ericaceous feed and a soluble iron feed. It has not responded and at present looks pretty sad! Am I doing something wrong? Can anyone help
Most of the big laurel hedges near me have vertical sides and have been allowed to get far too big in both height and width but people can't seem to bring themselves to take control. Laurels want to be full grown trees so need to be regularly maintained if you just want a hedge.
However, it seems that every new leaf (since this spring) invariably curls over on itself to one long side, goes a bit yellow and if you turn it over there is a horrible cottony, webby, white mess within the curled bit...with something rather gross living in it!
None of the old leaves have it, presumably because they're not tender enough to curl up...
What on earth is this and can I get rid of it, aside from cutting off all new growth, please?
Sorry to hijack thread, but with so many laurel growers out there I was hoping somebody may have seen this too