Laurel Hedging - Prunus laurocerasus

Planting Advice:

• Grow Cherry Laurel in well-drained soil in any sunny or partially shaded site. This variety will even tolerate growing conditions in full shade.
• Dig a planting hole three times the width of existing roots and mix some well-rotted compost or manure with the soil from the hole and use this to re-fill one the shrub is in place.
• We've found that a square hole is better than a round one as new roots, once they reach the edges, tend to grow in a circle round the circumference of the hole, whereas when they reach the corners of a square hole, they find it easier to grow through.
• Before planting soak container-grown shrubs thoroughly and allow to drain.
• Remove the plant from its pot and tease out a few of the roots.
• Add Mycorrhizal fungi to the roots when planting to help plants establish quicker.
• Place your shrub in the hole at the same level at the pot and refill the hole with the earth removed, in a process called backfilling.
• Firm in the soil with your heel, avoiding the root ball and water well.
• Mulch around the base of the plant with a collar, compost, gravel, bark etc.

Aftercare advice:

• Keep plants well-watered while they establish.
• Hardy in winter conditions down to -15C, protect from cold winds as it is these that tend to cause the most damage to young plants.

Pruning Advice:

• Hedges may be trimmed in spring or autumn to keep them tidy and shaped, if pruning at the end of the season (when growth has finished), do it before the onset of very cold weather.