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whats this bush?
in Plants
can anyone help identify this bush please?


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can anyone help identify this bush please?


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That looks like the common or English laurel.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I'll second that
In the sticks near Peterborough
I'll third it!
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
thank u
we just moved into a new house with large garden,, the laurel (now i know what it is is about 12ft tall and 12ft wide, there i 4 trees once its cut back is it easy to maintain??? coz we think of getting rid of it all together any advice would be great xx
It's often used as a hedging plant. You can cut it back as hard as you like - it'll look awful for a couple of months and then it'll leaf up again, sprouting new shoots from the oldest wood. After that it'll need trimming once a year if you want it to be a formal hedge - they're better trimmed with secateurs, removing whole leaves, rather than with shears or clippers which chop through leaving ragged leaves. Or you can grow it as a more informal shrub, and chop it back every few years. Either way it's a handsome plant.
It's also good at providing shelter from cold winter winds and it may have been planted with that in mind so if I were you I'd get to know your garden before you get rid of anything big.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
it is but id rather a shrub with flowers on, like a lilac,, we was told to drill big holes and fill it with weed killer to try and kill it back before getting rid, gardening is very new to me x
If it is a big garden don't you have room for both?
Befor you start poisoning things,!!
Evergreen shrubs are so good for wildlife.
Lilac only has flowers on for a couple of weeks - a month at the most - then they go brown and look sad for a few weeks unless you get on a step ladder and prune them all off. Then all you've got is rather dull green leaves for the rest of the spring and summer, then in the winter lilac is just bare branches.
In the winter the evergreen laurel provides shelter for small garden birds and hedgehogs often hibernate in the dry leaves beneath them. Also blackbirds love to nest in laurels - they're so well-hidden from the sparrowhawks in it's deep shadows.
And the light reflecting off the glossy leaves of a laurel can give a real sparkle to the garden.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
what Dove says about lilac applies to all those other bright coloured things in GCs and catalogues. You need some of those but a good solid evergreen background is a wonderful thing. For shelter (you and the wildlife) and a visual backdrop.
Don't rush to demolish
In the sticks near Peterborough