The Ultimate Guide to Choosing Laurel Hedges for Your Garden

There are a number of different Laurel Hedges you can choose for your garden including:

1. Cherry Laurel (also called Laurel, Common Laurel or English Laurel) – fast-growing with large, bright glossy green leaves all year round. It makes an excellent hedge.
2. Portugal or Portuguese Laurel (Prunus lusitanica) – Medium to fast-growing with smaller darker green leaves all year round and attractive red stems. It makes an excellent hedge.
3. Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis) – Medium-fast growing. Takes longer to form a hedge and can get burned by cold temperatures or winds. Needs a sheltered site.
4. Spotted Laurel (Aucuba japonica) – Slow-growing. Takes a long time to form a hedge and is also more expensive to buy. Large specimens are hard to find.

By far most popular two Laurel hedging plants are Cherry Laurel and Portugal Laurel as they are the fastest-growing, most widely available and hardiest.  For this reason, we would recommend planting these.

Laurel, also known as Cherry Laurel or Common Laurel, is one of the most popular plants used for hedging in the UK. A well-maintained Laurel hedge provides excellent privacy and looks beautiful all year. They grow fast but are easy to maintain and are very forgiving if you need to cut them back hard.

Some quick facts about Laurel:

• Its botanical name is Prunus laurocerasus
• The most popular Cherry Laurel for sale is a variety (cultivar) called Prunus laurocerasus ‘Rotundifolia’
• They are large shrubs with bright green, glossy leaves that can be kept clipped to any height
• They keep their leaves all year round (they are evergreen).
• In spring they grow clusters of white flowers which are a magnet for wildlife, and in summer they turn into shiny dark berries
• In the wild they grow to 6 metres (20 feet) high, but they can easily be trimmed to stay smaller when used for hedging

Portugal Laurel is a very popular hedging plant. It forms a dense hedge that provides privacy and screening all year round.

Some quick facts about Portugal Laurel:

• Its botanical name is Prunus lusitanica
• The most popular Portugal Laurel variety for sale is called Prunus lusitanica ‘Angustifolia’ as it has smaller, neater leaves and forms a good hedge
• The have dark green leaves that contrast against dark red stems especially in winter
• They are shrubs that keep their leaves all year round (they are evergreen)
• The produce white, fragrant flowers followed by red berries in autumn which are good for wildlife
• Prunus lusitanica ‘Angustifolia’ grows to 5-6m (15-18ft) tall if left untrimmed but can be kept to any height

Will a Cherry Laurel hedge work in my garden?

Laurels are very adaptable and can grow in most soils except very chalky or very wet (waterlogged) soils. Cherry Laurel hedging will also tolerate shade very well, so if the site is quite shady like a north facing boundary or under some trees, a laurel hedge is the best option.

Will a Portugal Laurel hedge work in my garden?

Portuguese Laurel plants will grow in any soil that is free-draining including chalky soils. They will tolerate sun or partial shade so will grow succesfully in most gardens.

What sized plants should I start with?

The question to ask is: do you want an instant screen or are you happy to wait a few years? Laurels grow quickly, up to 60cm (2 feet) per year. This means, if you are happy to wait, you can start small with 1 metre (3 feet) hedging plants, and within two to three years they will reach 2 metres, which is about as high as most people want them. But if you want an instant screen, you can start immediately with 1.8-2 metre (6 feet) laurel hedge plants.  The rate of growth you get from your Laurel plants will depend on how much water and feed they have available and how well they are planted. If Laurel hedge plants are planted well, and the soil is not compacted around their roots, they can establish a good root system quickly that will take up the water and nutrients they need.

How many plants do I need?

A hedge is just a row of Cherry Laurel trees or Portugal Laurel shrubs planted in a line. They will grow together to form a hedge. Simply measure the distance where your hedge is going to go and then divide the distance by your preferred spacing. How far apart should they be? We recommend spacing laurel hedge plants between 60cm and 100cm apart (about 2-3 feet apart). Hedges with plants 60cm apart will give you a screen more quickly than those planted 100cm apart. So, for example if the total distance is 20 feet, and you want them 2 feet apart, you will need ten plants. If you want them 3 feet apart, you will need about seven. You can use our Hedge Spacing Calculator to help calculate how many plants you need.

When is the best time to plant Laurel hedge plants?

If you can choose, then winter is the optimal time as long as the ground is not frozen, but pot-grown Cherry Laurel and Portuguese Laurel hedging plants can be planted at any time of year. Winter is also when hedging nurseries often have rootball laurel for sale, with rootball season generally spanning November to late March. These plants are not in pots, but have their roots wrapped in soil and held together in a hessian fabric. The advantage of rootball laurel is they are normally widely available in large quantities and various different sizes. Please note, when you plant rootball laurel, there is no need to take off the hessian fabric; they break down in the soil naturally.

How do I look after my Laurel hedge?

In the first year or two, keep your Laurel hedge plants sufficiently watered (make sure you water the soil around the roots and never let them dry out) and trim them regularly back to your desired width. This will make the them continually grow side shoots, which will help your hedge fill in more quickly and will avoid the branches getting too long and sprawling. You want them to bush out as they grow upwards. After a few years when they are established, trim them once a year.  Early summer is the best time to trim a laurel hedge as long as there are no birds nesting in it. This gives it time to shoot back with fresh growth to cover up the cut leaves. Take them back to your desired size, and they can put on some re-growth before winter. Also water them during dry spells so you will get more growth from them.

Laurel hedge problems

Cherry laurel hedging grows vigorously and is generally trouble free, as is Portugal Laurel. The main issues that cause Laurel hedge problems are usually in establishment of the hedge. You shouldn’t have any problems in establishment of a Laurel hedge if you make the correct preparations when planting your Cherry Laurel trees or shrub.   This means preparing the soil and planting them correctly; keeping them watered during establishment (for the first year or two); and feeding them correctly.

When planting a hedge, the soil around each Cherry Laurel tree or plant needs to be broken up so it is not compacted. This will mean the plants get their roots into the the soil easily and subsequently, they can take up water and nutrients easily to help them grow.  Ensuring the soil is not compacted also helps any excess water from heavy rainfall or over-watering to drain away. This means the roots of your Cherry Laurel trees will not sit in water and rot.

Laurel hedge problems also often occur due to lack of water after planting. If you plant in winter, your Cherry Laurel trees will need less water as they will have time to put roots into the soil before the soil dries out in the spring. If you plant in late spring or summer, please water your plants regularly (once or twice a week) to keep the roots from drying out.  If you start to notice lots of yellow leaves, this is usually due to lack of water, but, occasionally, can also be due to over-watering if the roots are sitting in water.

Laurel hedge problems do not usually occur once a hedge is established.  Occasionally, you may find a little nibbling of the leaves by slugs and snails but this is normally a problem on the nursery and not often once the plants are planted out to form a hedge.  Powdery mildew and shot-hole disease can be a minor problem in certain years, under unusual weather conditions, but will not kill your Laurel trees and it can be remedied by trimming the hedge and burning the clippings.  The hedge will grow out of the problem.

Is Laurel poisonous to touch?

Our staff handle thousands of Laurel hedging plants every year, so no, Laurel is not poisonous to touch. Cherry Laurel and Portugal Laurel leaves, flowers and berries are poisonous to animals if eaten, so should not be planted where livestock such as horses, sheep and cows can reach the plants.  The berries and leaves are bitter and we have never heard of any of our customers or their pets being harmed by their Laurel hedge. Our local primary school has a Laurel hedge around the school playground for many years and it has not caused any issues.  If you trim your Laurel hedge regularly in late spring, you will remove the flowerbuds and berries before they form.  If you are concerned, another alternative would be to plant Griselinia littoralis which is not poisonous.

Cherry Laurel for sale

We have different sizes of cherry laurel for sale. Rootball laurel are available over the winter from November to March and pot-grown Laurel hedge plants are available for sale all year round. Check out our prices and availability by clicking here.

Our prices, sizes and availablility for Portuguese Laurel can be found by clicking here. Also, see our blog on the differences between Cherry Laurel Hedging Plants and Portugal Laurel hedging here.

For more information on Laurel hedge plants, please see our website laurelhedging.com