I need to seriously retard the growth of my laurel hedge. I notice that ithas quite a bit of fruit on it. I know they are poisonous, but if some wildlife can make use of them I'm willing to delay the pruning. Are there any birds that use them in winter?
hi, ive inherited a HUGE laurel at the end of my garden, its massive. ijust about managed to keep it in shape last summer but i swear its just got bigger anyway! im thinkig of getting rid of it but then id be over looked. it is creating alot of shade for my already small garden and i dont thing im going to be able to maintain it properly this year due to busy lifestyle. could i cut it down to a stump and start again from scratch any ideas ??
I have a bay laurel planted as a small plant. It has been hardy and thriving for many years and is at least twenty ft. high. Being in the mid-Atlantic (MD), it has survived all kinds of weather. Early in the fall and into the winter this year all of the leaves have turned brown...
Does it have life left, or should it be cut to the ground?
These laurels are in my mum's garden (NW London) and ths photo was taken in April (when, as you can see, they were flowering). The hedge on the left is as tall as the two-storey building. It was pruned (horribly and with no regard for wildlife) a week or three ago but they couldn't reach the top so I guess it'll carry om growing higher until it blows over.
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I need to seriously retard the growth of my laurel hedge. I notice that ithas quite a bit of fruit on it. I know they are poisonous, but if some wildlife can make use of them I'm willing to delay the pruning. Are there any birds that use them in winter?
Birds do like the berries. We regularly have Black birds nesting in our laurel hedge.
According to http://laurelhedging.net/
"Hard pruning is best done in March due to the surge of growth in late April and May. This means new growth will follow very quickly."
March is not a good time to prune if the hedge is a regular nesting site for birds! The end of January at the very latest.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
hi, ive inherited a HUGE laurel at the end of my garden, its massive. ijust about managed to keep it in shape last summer but i swear its just got bigger anyway! im thinkig of getting rid of it but then id be over looked. it is creating alot of shade for my already small garden and i dont thing im going to be able to maintain it properly this year due to busy lifestyle. could i cut it down to a stump and start again from scratch any ideas ??
I have a bay laurel planted as a small plant. It has been hardy and thriving for many years and is at least twenty ft. high. Being in the mid-Atlantic (MD), it has survived all kinds of weather. Early in the fall and into the winter this year all of the leaves have turned brown...
Does it have life left, or should it be cut to the ground?
TIA for any advise!
Is bay laurel the one you cook with, Laurus nobilis, or the one you definitely don't, Prunus laurocerasus?
In the sticks near Peterborough
is it true the laurel roots poison the soil as I cannot grow any other plants or veg near my hedge
does laurel poison the ground as I cannot grow any plants or veg where there is a laurel edge
It doesn't poison the ground, but it will take all the water and nutrients out of the soil nearby.
Lots of mulching with organic matter, garden compost, farmyard manure etc will help.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
These laurels are in my mum's garden (NW London) and ths photo was taken in April (when, as you can see, they were flowering). The hedge on the left is as tall as the two-storey building. It was pruned (horribly and with no regard for wildlife) a week or three ago but they couldn't reach the top so I guess it'll carry om growing higher until it blows over.