Late spring or early summer is the best time to trim most hedges including laurel and leylandii hedges. You can prune a laurel hedge with secateurs – which is not as labour-intensive as it sounds – or with a hedgetrimmer.
How hard can you cut back laurel?
Laurel can be trimmed or pruned to the height you require and, if it grows too big, it can be cut back as hard as you like – right back to the stump if necessary – and it will re-grow quickly into a new hedge.
What is the best month to cut a laurel hedge?
To encourage laurel growth, trim the hedge in July or August. But bare in mind that this hedge has large, tough leaves and is best trimmed using secateurs. Pruning of Laurel hedges can be performed at any time up until the end of summer. However, it’s best done in spring.
Should I prune laurel bushes?
Yes, prune it hard back in late spring or early summer and it will re-shoot quickly. You can reduce the height and width of all types of laurel. Don’t prune it back hard if the soil is very dry or the weather is very hot.
When can I cut back my laurel? – Related Questions
How do you make laurels bushier?
To prune laurel to encourage growth, we’d recommend trimming the branches and cutting them back several times a year (depending on how fast it grows) by up to a quarter. This makes the bush come back bushier and thicker than before more rapidly.
Can you shape a laurel?
Remember to trim your laurel hedge into a sort of “A” shape, but with a flat top. A slight taper to a hedge – wider at the bottom than at the top – allows light and air to get to the lower branches, keeping them healthy and covered in leaf.
How do you maintain laurels?
Laurels prefer consistent moisture, though Carolina cherry laurel becomes quite drought tolerant with time. When possible, however, keep plants consistently moist by watering deeply but infrequently, waiting until they have dried out somewhat before adding enough water to thoroughly drench the root zone.
What kills laurel bushes?
Use a concentrated herbicide containing glyphosate or metsulfuron as the active ingredient if applying in late summer and early fall well before the threat of frost.
Why do laurels go brown?
Frost damage during the winter months can cause brown patches on established Laurels of all types and is usually at its worst when there is a very cold wind with no protective cover of snow to protect the winter foliage.
How do you maintain a laurel hedge?
Once you’ve planted your laurel hedging plants, you need to make sure they get enough water to keep them alive and growing well. Usually plants only need watering from March to October. During the winter months, they use less water and normally get enough from the rain.
Can you prune laurel in September?
Laurel hedges may be trimmed at any time during the season but its best to avoid the coldest months of the year as the cut edges may be susceptible to frost damage. Many text books advise trimming Laurel hedging plants with secateurs to avoid cut edges to the large leaves, it really isn’t necessary.
Can I cut laurel hedge in August?
Laurel is easier to trim if done twice a year; because the branches are not as woody, and there are a lot less trimmings to deal with. Laurel trimmed in August still has plenty of time for regrowth before the winter; but not so much growth as to leave the hedge looking untidy during the Winter, and early spring months.
Is a laurel hedge a good idea?
Laurel in particular is probably the best hedge to grow in shade. They tolerate shade well and are often planted under tree canopies in large estate gardens. All types of laurel will also grow well in full sun. If you want to create some privacy for your garden, laurel is a much more attractive option than a fence.
How tall should a laurel hedge be?
Cherry Laurel is an easy hedge to transplant, and you can have a quick, evergreen hedge, by buying the plants at 5 foot to 6 foot tall. If you plant the smaller plants, and you maintain them well, they can grow from about 18 inches tall, to being a 4 to 5 foot hedge, in 3 seasons of growth.
Can I reduce the width of a laurel hedge?
Laurels are one of the most responsive species to the major surgery of hedge restoration. Even the most hopelessly overgrown hedges can be drastically reduced in size and the unpromising woody stems will sprout with new foliage.
Are laurels low maintenance?
While they thrive in full sunlight, Skip laurels also fare very well in the shade—just one of the attributes that makes them low-maintenance and easy to manage.
Do laurels have invasive roots?
Almost certainly not. This isn’t even a tree; it’s a big shrub. The most troublesome trees are those with deep, penetrating root systems, but laurel’s is particularly shallow.