Bay Laurel Hedge

K09

Hi,

I got bay laurel hedging planted at the end of March. I have watered it every day but it is not looking too great. A number of leaves look brown or discoloured.

I tried contacting the garden nursery but no one is working. Could someone please offer me advice on what I need to do. Just plant feed? Or do they even need to be watered much?

I have attached some pics.

Thanks!

macraignil

How much you water depends on how dry the soil is. I have seen advice that it is better to give plants a good soaking once a week rather than a light watering every day. The moisture will be maintained deeper down in the soil by the proper soaking and the roots of the new plants will travel down to find this where as the light watering can encourage roots to develop near the soil surface which then are less useful to the plant as it develops. Once the soil is properly wet a mulch can be added to the surface to help lock this moisture in for the plants to use rather than it evaporating from the soil surface. Your bay laurel are only planted a few weeks so they are still just settling in. It would not be surprising for them to not look the best for a while and I would be slow to apply fertilizer as I think for a hedge it is better to encourage the plants to send their roots deeper into the soil to get what they need. I can't see the soil in the photos but it is important to remove any competing vegetation from the base of your hedge and a mulch will help keep this under control as well. Planted this hedge of common laurel in mid march just before it rained and it has never been watered and it is growing fine.