Laurel Hedging Help

Lucy-b

Hello, 

New here and by no means a gardener! I have just taken delivery of 20 2.5/3ft potted cherry laurels. They are to go around our driveway and a trench has been dug. 

The plants have been cut at the top, I wasn’t expecting that, does this stop the height growth? as we want them taller than they currently are .. also they look to be dropping at the tops, should I cut these back before planting? 

We have the compost, backfill soil and bone meal ready to plant. I have just given them a good water but can’t help being a little disappointed with their appearance, they aren’t how I expected them to be. Also how deep would anyone recommend planting them? Not sure if the trench needs to be a little deeper. 

Thank you in advance! 

Lucy 

Fairygirl

Plant at the same depth as the pots they're  in.
Cutting back is the correct thing to do - it encourages bushier plants, and then a hedge.
When you say trench - ideally, you want a wide border [front to back]
rather than a deep one [height] Keep them very well watered - a good canful every day or so, even if it rains. 
This thread has all the info you'll ever need 
https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/656523/help-needed-please-with-laurel-hedge-issues#latest

The dry tops are just a bit of transplant shock - they'll be a bit dry. Water really well before planting - make sure all the soil in the post is damp

Lucy-b

Lyn

When you plant them, bear in mind that they will grow 5’ in depth, and as high as you want them. So make sure you allow enough space for them to grow, plant 75 cm apart.cut the top 30 cm off them on planting. And keep well watered in this dry spell.

Lucy-b

Thank you both. Do I cut back any of the sides in addition to the tops and take off (what look like dead) leaves? What we’ve dug is around 60cm wide, and will obviously plant in the middle - do you think we will need it any wider? Also the earth that’s come up is quite stoney, is it OK to backfill with or can I just use top soil with compost? 

Thank you again! ☺️

Lyn

I would cut right across the tops for now, let them settle in then start your picking out.
if you've got any compost you can put that in the planting holes then back fill, tread in really firefly so no air space. Then water well, a can full for  each tree.

They don’t need any special treatment, we have some lovely ones growing out of a dry stone wall in hardly any soil.  Don’t feed them or you will encourage top growth too soon, they need to build up a nice root system first. Water is the key. 

60cm is fine for the planting hole, but make sure you allow for growth front to back of that, they are big trees, they need space, so not near a wall.

Fairygirl

Yeh - they're just dry, which is why they're droopy.
Get  them soaked before you plant. Then do as we've suggested re pruning back, watering  etc. 

Lucy-b

Perfect, thank you! I will give the tops a good trim before planting this evening ☺️ with regards to the soil dug up being quite stoney, would it be any good to backfill with? 

Thanks again, 
Lucy 

Lucy-b

Hello, I’m back! 

So I followed your advice and cut them back before planting. It’s been a few months now and we did have a lot of  yellow/dropping leaves. I cut back on the watering as we were told this could be due to over watering (we were watering every night for quite some time). 

So now some seem to have bushed and are growing really well, we’ve definitely had less yellow leaves. Others aren’t doing too well and are thin, on a number of them the leaves have started browning and are crisp at the edges? 

The difference can be seen in the attached photos, but they have all been planted and watered in the same way so I’m a little bit concerned that some are taking really well and others look not too good. 

Should I be worrying? Do we know what it could be or if there is anything I can do? 

Thank you ☺️