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Hedge Advice - Which type of Laurel?
Hi everyone,
I come seeking advice on hedging. Today we are having a partially dead conifer hedge removed, and we are in different mind on what to replace it with. I personally love the evergreen waxy leaves of laurel, but we are stuck between whether to get a common/cherry laurel or Portuguese laurel in its place.
I've attached a photo of the soon to be removed existing hedge so you can see the type of space and privacy level we want to achieve with the new hedge.
Can anyone offer advice as to which would be the better type to have, along with any advice on how to treat the soil after the conifers have been removed, and how we should train the new hedge?
Thanks,
Jenny
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I'd choose Portugal laurel, it's easier to clip to a hedge. You will need to improve the soil, some muck would be ideal.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I'd agree with nut Jenny. The common laurel gets very big so you need a fair bit of room to let it spread or it doesn't look right. You'd end up with very little foliage and lots of branches if you wanted to keep it as tight as the hedge you have there. The more nutrition you can get into the soil the easier it will be for your new hedge to get established. Conifers take a lot out of soil and leave it hungry. A little sprinkling of Blood, fish and bone at planting time will help and you may find you'll have to water quite a bit when you replant as well.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I think both laurels are equally easy to grow and are similar in hardiness. I would always go for Portuguese laurel as I think it makes for a more classy looking hedge.