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Are laurel hedges much tougher than Portuguese Laurel

  • 17-04-2021 11:02am
    #1
    henke
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,359 ✭✭✭


    Hi

    Planted a Portuguese Laurel in summer 2017 and it's doing very poorly. A few plants have died and more look likely to go. It's very straggly and not filled out properly. The ground isn't great but looking around the neighborhood I do see a few laurel hedges which look healthy. I'm considering ripping out this hedge and planting a laurel this summer but wondering. Are they much hardier and easier to grow? In comparison to the Portuguese variant.


«1

Comments

  • #2
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    I put down Portugeuse Laurel about 18 months ago, they were about 4ft high when I planted them and they did well for the first year. But since last Summer they're not looking well at all. A lot of yellowing leaves with brown tips and black spots. They're putting out plenty of new growth but I'm wondering if that too will do badly as it opens out. Google says not to let ithe soil around it get too dry or too wet, and I don't think it's either. I watered it well during long dry spells and watered it today as April has been so dry but I'm careful that it's not waterlogged. I see it growing in other peoples' gardens with lovely dark green glossy leaves ...grrrr.
    Like you I wonder should I have put in the ordinary Laurel.


  • #3
    henke
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,359 ✭✭✭henke


    Yeah to add some of the plants that have died were going well a year later and then got it worse and worse. Hedge is very straggly. I am wondering how the laurel performs in comparison.


  • #4
    standardg60
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,881 ✭✭✭standardg60


    I would guess that your plants were imported. They never really acclimatise to growing here.

    If you're going to replace the hedge ensure the plants are Irish grown, either species should be fine then.


  • #5
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,181 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    would you consider something like beech or hornbeam, if the privacy aspect is important?

    (i hate laurel)


  • #6
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    standardg60 wrote: »
    I would guess that your plants were imported.


    That never even occurred to me, I suppose it's a possibility.
    The place I bought them (in pots) has fields surrounding it where they grow young nursery plants, but maybe they import plants as well.


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  • #7
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    magicbastarder wrote: »
    would you consider something like beech or hornbeam, if the privacy aspect is important?

    (i hate laurel)


    Beech and Hornbeam although lovely are a lot slower, I needed something to fill a gap where we took out a few leylandiis so I didn't want to waiting for years to get back my privacy.


  • #8
    standardg60
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,881 ✭✭✭standardg60


    inthehat wrote: »
    That never even occurred to me, I suppose it's a possibility.
    The place I bought them (in pots) has fields surrounding it where they grow young nursery plants, but maybe they import plants as well.

    Imported plants may not be relevant in your case.
    If you post a pic i'll be able to advise further.


  • #9
    henke
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,359 ✭✭✭henke


    I bought mine in a reputable large garden centre. They were in pots too. Would it be typical for them to be imported? I remember at the time we were advised they were as hardy as laurel with less maintenance needed? How tough is hornbeam in comparison to laurel?

    If it grows well I would put up with it been slower as long as it fills out ok and looks relatively neat, even if the height takes a while.


  • #10
    aw
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 786 ✭✭✭aw


    inthehat wrote: »
    I put down Portugeuse Laurel about 18 months ago, they were about 4ft high when I planted them and they did well for the first year. But since last Summer they're not looking well at all. A lot of yellowing leaves with brown tips and black spots. They're putting out plenty of new growth but I'm wondering if that too will do badly as it opens out. Google says not to let ithe soil around it get too dry or too wet, and I don't think it's either. I watered it well during long dry spells and watered it today as April has been so dry but I'm careful that it's not waterlogged. I see it growing in other peoples' gardens with lovely dark green glossy leaves ...grrrr.
    Like you I wonder should I have put in the ordinary Laurel.


    Just wondering have you fed them?
    Didn't see that mentioned.
    A good feed this week might do them the world of good this season, resolve yellowing issues and green them up.


  • #11
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    I gave them a good sprinkling of Growmore NPK 7.7.7. a few weeks ago.


    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=550545&stc=1&d=1618734838


    Hope that pic opens...


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  • #12
    looksee
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,784 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    My suggestion would be that it looks stressed. Why that would be is another matter.

    Potted plants are not always the best solution in every situation. If the plants are pot bound - when you remove the pot the plant is a pot shaped mass of fine fibrous roots - then when you plant it the roots may not spread into the surrounding soil. Its more complex, imo, than planting bare root. The fibrous roots need to be broken apart - simply by tearing at the outside mat, some similar material, compost for example, put into the planting hole, the whole lot well watered in then covered over and firmed.

    If you pick up a pot in the garden centre and there is a mass of fibrous roots coming out of the holes in the bottom, it has been in the pot too long. An odd main root is fine, it just indicates its time to move it out of the pot.

    When the roots will not leave the root ball then there is a good chance it will not make a good plant. If a very sickly or dead plant is dug up you can often see that the root ball is still intact and the roots have not ventured out. The same happens with those dratted tiny fibre pots, especially pelargonums, you can pick the plant out of the pot and just the little fibre pot comes out, the root system has never got beyond it.

    This may not be the problem with your plants but I am throwing it out there just as my opinion.


  • #13
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Thanks Looksee....if that's the case I suppose there is not a lot I can do at this stage. They weren't potbound when I bought them (I did check) but in hindsight I don't remember teasing out the roots. They were quite heavy and I remember just concentrating on getting them into the ground without disturbing them too much. I'll continue to water and occasionally feed them, see how they look in the Autumn and decide then if there's any point in sticking with them.


  • #14
    henke
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,359 ✭✭✭henke


    My plants were just the same and some are similar and some have deteriorated worse. Any thoughts on how laurel / hornbeam compare? I think a lot of my current ones are beyond correction.


  • #15
    looksee
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,784 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    My son grew an Elaeagnus hedge on a very exposed seaside site, mainly as a shelter. It has made a beautiful hedge, evergreen, well clothed, very attractive to flying insects, clips well and is excellent in all respects. They did put up a windproofing fabric on a fairly sturdy fence initially till it got going, but it has made a magnificent hedge in about 3 to 4 years.


  • #16
    standardg60
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,881 ✭✭✭standardg60


    inthehat wrote: »
    I gave them a good sprinkling of Growmore NPK 7.7.7. a few weeks ago.


    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=550545&stc=1&d=1618734838


    Hope that pic opens...

    That doesn't look too bad to me to be honest.
    The only thing i would do at the moment is clip them into a cone shape to encourage dense growth.
    I'd say they'll look a lot better come summer.


  • #17
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    standardg60 wrote: »
    That doesn't look too bad to me to be honest.
    The only thing i would do at the moment is clip them into a cone shape to encourage dense growth.
    I'd say they'll look a lot better come summer.


    Good to hear that....I'll give them a trim and hope for the best.

    Thanks everyone for your advice.


  • #18
    happyplants
    Registered Users Posts: 88 ✭✭happyplants


    I had portugese laurel planted professionally in a 30 foot hedge in 2017. I was very unimpressed for a long-time. Some of them took like wild-fire and several other died off and several were weedy. After some learning and so on, I came to the view that the dying ones were just planted way too deep and when I dug them up, you could see just how deep they had gone in compared to the thriving.

    However, my ones that went south looked way worse than your pic. Like, I'm talking full yellow to bare branch.

    The turning point really was carefully taking off about 2 inches of soil and replacing it with a mix of better soil and organic matter. The reason I took it off first was that I didn't want to raise the area. I replaced a few and planted them quite proud. I cut everything down about 25%, even the newly planted ones.

    I tend to prune again late in the summer which seems to encourage the blossom.

    The whole thing is flourishing now, but its been *constant* maintenance and a landscaper mentioned to me that he was seeing lot of them yellowing around the place.

    Against that, a developer beside me has just planted a long laurel hedge and it looks like its dying already!


  • #19
    Breakingbad123
    Registered Users Posts: 13 ✭Breakingbad123


    Hedge doesn't look too bad to me .any brown ones will fall off and new growth will replace.give it time would be my first reaction.i have around 200 of them in my garden that started out the same.sn insecticide spray on the leaves wouldn't go amiss but I'd say leave it a year or two.


  • #20
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Are they planted too close together or too close to a wall or fence? Do you have cats or dogs urinating on them?

    Mine are doing really well. I feed the base of the plant with chicken manure pellets twice a year and give it a liquid seaweed feed regularly during the growing season. Wait until late May or early June to cut back a good chunk of the new growth and it will help it thicken and get much stronger.


  • #21
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    inthehat wrote: »
    Good to hear that....I'll give them a trim and hope for the best.

    Thanks everyone for your advice.

    In my experience, you are better waiting for at least another month before cutting them back. Late May or early June.


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  • #22
    standardg60
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,881 ✭✭✭standardg60


    Deleted User wrote: »
    In my experience, you are better waiting for at least another month before cutting them back. Late May or early June.

    What experience is that?
    Now is the time for formative pruning.


  • #23
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    standardg60 wrote: »
    What experience is that?
    Now is the time for formative pruning.

    I've grown a Portuguese Laurel Hedge for the last five years and have found by far the best time to prune them is in late May or early June before flowering.


  • #24
    happyplants
    Registered Users Posts: 88 ✭✭happyplants


    standardg60 wrote: »
    What experience is that?
    Now is the time for formative pruning.


    I'd always understood later for these. Once the juvenille growth of the season establishes. Like, mine right are now are full of new establishing growth. I don't think it would assist to cut them off right now in their process.


    Anyway, to each their own.



    Hylands nursery website has;
    "Once the Portuguese laurel hedge is established you can trim it once a year around mid to late summer."

    And I remember, I'll link it here, the Monty Don piece about these

    "And, if you do not prune it until after midsummer, it develops flowers that have a strangely accidental quality somewhere between bunting and fluff. Their scent hints at the laurel's ancestry, because they have a hint of hawthorn, to which they are rather incredibly a cousin, both being members of the rose family."


  • #25
    standardg60
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,881 ✭✭✭standardg60


    happyplants wrote: »
    I'd always understood later for these. Once the juvenille growth of the season establishes. Like, mine right are now are full of new establishing growth. I don't think it would assist to cut them off right now in their process.


    Anyway, to each their own.



    Hylands nursery website has;
    "Once the Portuguese laurel hedge is established you can trim it once a year around mid to late summer."

    And I remember, I'll link it here, the Monty Don piece about these

    "And, if you do not prune it until after midsummer, it develops flowers that have a strangely accidental quality somewhere between bunting and fluff. Their scent hints at the laurel's ancestry, because they have a hint of hawthorn, to which they are rather incredibly a cousin, both being members of the rose family."

    It's not established!


  • #26
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    standardg60 wrote: »
    It's not established!

    I've tried both and the later pruning worked far better for me. Might be worth a shot for the OP if he's having issues.

    Later pruning recommended by my local nursery and the professional gardener who put them in for me and loads of resources online. It responds very well to a hard prune and I find it far too early to do that now with frost still around.

    Anyway, it's hardly worth getting excited about.


  • #27
    henke
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,359 ✭✭✭henke


    Hi, op here. I'll post up some pics of mine tomorrow. As I said I planted mine in 2017. I replaced two with 4 foot plants last year and they too now are struggling. I did take a layer of soil off last year and put down a mix of compost and farmyard manure.


  • #28
    standardg60
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,881 ✭✭✭standardg60


    Deleted User wrote: »
    I've tried both and the later pruning worked far better for me. Might be worth a shot for the OP if he's having issues.

    Later pruning recommended by my local nursery and the professional gardener who put them in for me and loads of resources online. It responds very well to a hard prune and I find it far too early to do that now with frost still around.

    Anyway, it's hardly worth getting excited about.

    Again, i was responding directly to the poster. Do you have a protective boundary wall surrounding your plants?
    With plants it's not feasible to apply a 'one fits all' approach, what works for you doesn't work for all.
    As an example the other recent poster has an established lusitanica hedge (pics posted in another thread) whom i wouldn't have given the same advice to at all, but were happy to advise based on Dr. Google.
    I gave my advice based on personal experience of the actual pic posted, if the poster chooses to ignore it that's fine, but others wading in based on different experiences/internet searches annoys me.


  • #29
    standardg60
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,881 ✭✭✭standardg60


    henke wrote: »
    Hi, op here. I'll post up some pics of mine tomorrow. As I said I planted mine in 2017. I replaced two with 4 foot plants last year and they too now are struggling. I did take a layer of soil off last year and put down a mix of compost and farmyard manure.

    Be happy to take a look.


  • #30
    happyplants
    Registered Users Posts: 88 ✭✭happyplants


    standardg60 wrote: »
    It's not established!




    Good point! Appreciate your annoyance, but getting past that at least this thread now is an established resource making your point and making it well! A real Hegelian dialectic in action.


    I suppose I'd fallen into the error of just trying to back up the general posts about later pruning, but of course I missed the major point.


    Sorry you got annoyed.



    HP


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  • #31
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    I'm appreciative of all the advice here, I know opinions will vary but I'll take your suggestions on board and I'll update here in a month or two, hopefully with photos of a thriving hedge!


  • #32
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,181 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    i know precisely nothing about when is best to prune laurel, so my advice is the most unbiased. only prune them on a day with a B in it, when the wind is blowing from the southeast.


  • #33
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    standardg60 wrote: »
    Again, i was responding directly to the poster. Do you have a protective boundary wall surrounding your plants?
    With plants it's not feasible to apply a 'one fits all' approach, what works for you doesn't work for all.
    As an example the other recent poster has an established lusitanica hedge (pics posted in another thread) whom i wouldn't have given the same advice to at all, but were happy to advise based on Dr. Google.
    I gave my advice based on personal experience of the actual pic posted, if the poster chooses to ignore it that's fine, but others wading in based on different experiences/internet searches annoys me.

    Life's too short to be getting excited over cutting a hedge. Zero offence intended and the OP seems happy he has the advice he needs now. Happy gardening.


  • #34
    henke
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,359 ✭✭✭henke


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Life's too short to be getting excited over cutting a hedge. Zero offence intended and the OP seems happy he has the advice he needs now. Happy gardening.

    Not be be rude/pedantic I was actually the OP and the inthehunt then added their own issues and am happy they got the help they needed. It is lashing rain here today so I will put up some pics tomorrow

    My original query was if laurel was a better bet/easier to grow and if Hornbeam/other is hardier/easier to grow if the soil isn't great in comparison to Portuguese. Some good info in here and I hopefully I get some better guidance when I put up some pics. Thanks.


  • #35
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    henke wrote: »
    Not be be rude/pedantic I was actually the OP and the inthehunt then added their own issues and am happy they got the help they needed. It is lashing rain here today so I will put up some pics tomorrow

    My original query was if laurel was a better bet/easier to grow and if Hornbeam/other is hardier/easier to grow if the soil isn't great in comparison to Portuguese. Some good info in here and I hopefully I get some better guidance when I put up some pics. Thanks.

    Sorry, mixed you up there.

    I can't comment on hornbeam as I've never grown it, but cherry laurel is very fast growing (some would say aggressive), takes up quite a bit of space and requires alot of maintenance.


  • #36
    standardg60
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,881 ✭✭✭standardg60


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Life's too short to be getting excited over cutting a hedge. Zero offence intended and the OP seems happy he has the advice he needs now. Happy gardening.

    No offence taken, same to you.


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  • #37
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    henke wrote: »
    Not be be rude/pedantic I was actually the OP and the inthehunt then added their own issues


    Apologies henke... I did kinda hi-jack your thread :o. You should have told me to butt out! Hope the green-fingered people here can help you out.


  • #38
    henke
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,359 ✭✭✭henke


    [Deleted User] wrote: »
    Sorry, mixed you up there.

    I can't comment on hornbeam as I've never grown it, but cherry laurel is very fast growing (some would say aggressive), takes up quite a bit of space and requires alot of maintenance.

    I assume cherry laurel is what is known as just as laurel. You know I think back at the time the gardening centre said Portuguese Laurel was just as hardy and easier maintained and looked nicer as it had a smaller leaf. It hasn't done well for me however and regular Laurel might not be the answer if it also has problems although I do see a lot of it the neighbourhood making me think it's hardier/safer bet to grow. I suppose that is my first requirement based on my current bad experience but then yeah laurel could go too much the other way. Not sure on alternative hedges myself. Anyway will post up some pics as soon as the rain eases of. Thanks.


  • #39
    looksee
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,784 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    I have a single hornbeam tree as a specimen and it is flying - went in as a barely 4ft tree last autumn and is now over 5 ft and looking very well. It is not evergreen though. The elaeagnus I mentioned earlier is evergreen.


  • #40
    macraignil
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,483 ✭✭✭macraignil


    henke wrote: »
    I assume cherry laurel is what is known as just as laurel. You know I think back at the time the gardening centre said Portuguese Laurel was just as hardy and easier maintained and looked nicer as it had a smaller leaf. It hasn't done well for me however and regular Laurel might not be the answer if it also has problems although I do see a lot of it the neighbourhood making me think it's hardier/safer bet to grow. I suppose that is my first requirement based on my current bad experience but then yeah laurel could go too much the other way. Not sure on alternative hedges myself. Anyway will post up some pics as soon as the rain eases of. Thanks.


    Cherry laurel is also referred to as common laurel and I think it is probably the fastest growing of the options mentioned. This means it is more work to trim and the big leaves mean it is best kept as a big hedge in my opinion. If it is kept small I have seen examples where a lot of leaves were cut in half and did not look great. I only have the one Portugal laurel plant growing and it is not thriving but it is growing right next to a spiraea that is probably competing a bit much with the Portugal laurel for it to be doing great. Its leaves usually improve in the summer. Planted some common laurel in a hedge last year and they are doing OK but it was very dry after they were planted and I did not do much watering so I have had to add some more to fill gaps where the odd one died. If your Portugal laurel is in place for a while and is still alive I think you may be best persisting with it as it can often just take some time for plants to settle in a new position before growing at their best. The toughest hedge plants I think are white thorn and hornbeam and here is a video clip of a hedge of these I planted. The hornbeam keeps some leaves overwinter like beech but has the advantage of being a bit tougher and tolerant of damp soil.

    Your hedge being planted in summer might not have been the easiest time of year for it to settle in and so its development may be a bit slower than might be expected. I find many plants can take two years before they settle in and start growing properly but if it is straggly then it may be just that it is not being trimmed enough. I think a formal evergreen hedge usually needs to be trimmed twice a year to grow dense and look neat but your photos might give more information.


  • #41
    Lemon Davis lll
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 108 ✭✭Lemon Davis lll


    Prunus Laurocerasus Novita is widely available too OP and is apparently even hardier than traditional cherry laurel in terms of frost and disease.


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  • #42
    bakerbhoy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 625 ✭✭✭bakerbhoy


    inthehat wrote: »
    Beech and Hornbeam although lovely are a lot slower, I needed something to fill a gap where we took out a few leylandiis so I didn't want to waiting for years to get back my privacy.

    We put in hornbeam saplings 1.5ft in 2013, destroyed by rabbits first year, topped them out last year 2020 to a height of 8 ft . The tallest had reached close to 12 ft.


  • #43
    garv123
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,576 ✭✭✭garv123


    I planted 140 of them last year, they were about a foot high in cup sized pots. I'd say I'll be lucky if 1/3 of them are gonna grow this year. some lost all leaves, and more are very yellow and withered.


  • #44
    Mango Joe
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,178 ✭✭✭Mango Joe


    henke wrote: »
    Not be be rude/pedantic I was actually the OP and the inthehunt then added their own issues and am happy they got the help they needed. It is lashing rain here today so I will put up some pics tomorrow

    My original query was if laurel was a better bet/easier to grow and if Hornbeam/other is hardier/easier to grow if the soil isn't great in comparison to Portuguese. Some good info in here and I hopefully I get some better guidance when I put up some pics. Thanks.

    To directly answer your question to the best of my ability (and I must admit I am quite nervous and anxious now that people are being held to account on their contributions with rigorous and vigorous contention of all stated views for their authenticity, veracity and general good standing)

    In my opinion one of the best measures of Laurels ability to establish itself and grow prolifically in Ireland can be seen in many of our forests and national parks where it has taken root in all kinds of land, in and out of shade and under previously established woodland canopy and even then is growing out of all control.

    I've a lot of laurel and it grows almost incessantly throughout most of the year and if left untamed would take over the garden and ambitiously try and touch the sky.

    Personally my direct experience with my own Laurel hedge was to plant in March - I left it a couple of months as I wanted it to have time to settle and develop its root system to some small extent & then I pruned it a couple of months later - This produced really good results and I was delighted with it for a finish.

    While this feels like you're going backwards a step - what you're really doing is kick-starting the plant to fight back and it then develops a load of extra new growth all over the plant which ends up being far above what you originally had.
    standardg60 wrote: »
    No offence taken, same to you.

    So very glad the thread has been wrestled back in line with your expectations - If only there was a fully professional Forum one could post on without all the amateur Gardeners cluttering the place with their...thoughts.


  • #45
    henke
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,359 ✭✭✭henke


    garv123 wrote: »
    I planted 140 of them last year, they were about a foot high in cup sized pots. I'd say I'll be lucky if 1/3 of them are gonna grow this year. some lost all leaves, and more are very yellow and withered.

    That is a pain. Are you referring to PL?


  • #46
    henke
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,359 ✭✭✭henke


    So have included some pics and a vid. Poor for something planted in 2017.

    https://i.imgur.com/DRqMWmx.mp4

    So, considering its been down so long is there anything worth saving or better to rip it out and go with something tougher. And to add in 2018/19 much of it seemed to well before getting worse.


  • #47
    Mango Joe
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,178 ✭✭✭Mango Joe


    Poor you - You seem to have done everything right in that it looks like you dug out a fine trench and have a bark chip mulch that a hedge should love but have been left with less hedge and more a collection of sorry looking sticks after 4 years.

    Something is definitely wrong here - Is there any way there could be soil contamination of some sort?

    If you could rule the above out I'd be planting a load of regular Laurel and getting on with my life - After 4 years you'd probably wouldn't be far off having a 6 foot tall hedge with full density/screening ie. this is where you should be at now.

    - You could pick up 2-3 in a nursery and plant them for a test perhaps - Just to see if they take off.


  • #48
    garv123
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,576 ✭✭✭garv123


    henke wrote: »
    That is a pain. Are you referring to PL?


    Yeah Portuguese Laurel, We were doing ground works at the time and we used a bucket of the digger to loosen all the soil before planting. used marine manure
    pellets whilst planting.

    Some areas got a bit waterlogged which didnt help. Invading grass was a bit of a problem too. I must tackle it again and clear any weeds and use some fertilizer.


  • #49
    macraignil
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,483 ✭✭✭macraignil


    henke wrote: »
    So have included some pics and a vid. Poor for something planted in 2017.

    https://i.imgur.com/DRqMWmx.mp4

    So, considering its been down so long is there anything worth saving or better to rip it out and go with something tougher. And to add in 2018/19 much of it seemed to well before getting worse.


    Definitely looks like something has gone wrong there. Were the roots of the hedge plants pot bound when you planted them? Sometimes if plants are in pots too long the roots start to curl around to fit the shape of the pot and they need to be teased out in order to grow properly afterwards. Otherwise the ball of roots remains constricted and it makes it difficult for the plants to develop normal roots that stretch into the ground.



    I also have heard that enriching the planting hole for trees and shrubs too much with manure and compost can lead to the roots just staying in that area and not reaching into the soil as they can find all the nutrients they need close to where they are planted and in the long term this slows the plant development as they do not get properly anchored in the ground. I would not dig a trench for planting a hedge and think it is better to make small individual planting holes for each plant or slits in the soil for bare roots and never enrich the planting hole in order to encourage the roots to stretch out to find the nutrients they need.



    Light frequent watering to only encourage surface roots is also said to be detrimental to the long term development of plants which will develop better root systems if the area is properly soaked less frequently when first planted as then roots will be encouraged to grow deeper and eventually access water deeper down and more reliably from rain fed ground water.


    It may be that your hedge roots have just sat in the trench this entire time because of being pot bound or the trench having too much nutrients or poor watering technique and poor root development is the reason the hedge has not developed to a normal size. This could happen with any type of hedge plant so it is worth investigating if any of these were the cause of the slow development of your hedge. Maybe dig one up and see what is happening with the roots.


  • #50
    standardg60
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,881 ✭✭✭standardg60


    henke wrote: »
    So have included some pics and a vid. Poor for something planted in 2017.

    https://i.imgur.com/DRqMWmx.mp4

    So, considering its been down so long is there anything worth saving or better to rip it out and go with something tougher. And to add in 2018/19 much of it seemed to well before getting worse.

    Yes sorry OP they are not worth persevering with, to me they do indeed look like imports which have failed to acclimatise. To me they are just suffering from the exposure.

    You are much more likely to find Irish grown cherry (laurocerasus) laurel and they are better on acidic soils anyway (assuming you are in a rural location).
    If you would prefer something more manageable than the common species, 'etna' is a lovely variety with red tinged young growth or 'novita' as someone else has suggested.


  • #51
    standardg60
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,881 ✭✭✭standardg60


    Mango Joe wrote: »
    To directly answer your question to the best of my ability (and I must admit I am quite nervous and anxious now that people are being held to account on their contributions with rigorous and vigorous contention of all stated views for their authenticity, veracity and general good standing)

    In my opinion one of the best measures of Laurels ability to establish itself and grow prolifically in Ireland can be seen in many of our forests and national parks where it has taken root in all kinds of land, in and out of shade and under previously established woodland canopy and even then is growing out of all control.

    I've a lot of laurel and it grows almost incessantly throughout most of the year and if left untamed would take over the garden and ambitiously try and touch the sky.

    Personally my direct experience with my own Laurel hedge was to plant in March - I left it a couple of months as I wanted it to have time to settle and develop its root system to some small extent & then I pruned it a couple of months later - This produced really good results and I was delighted with it for a finish.

    While this feels like you're going backwards a step - what you're really doing is kick-starting the plant to fight back and it then develops a load of extra new growth all over the plant which ends up being far above what you originally had.



    So very glad the thread has been wrestled back in line with your expectations - If only there was a fully professional Forum one could post on without all the amateur Gardeners cluttering the place with their...thoughts.

    Seeing as you wish to passive aggressively target me with your first post in this thread i'll put you back in your box.
    From a horticultural perspective what you're recommending is nonsense. Pruning of any plant after it's started into growth forces it to expend energy replacing the growth it would have instead used for flowering and root development. Pruning plants later in the growing season, ie. June/July, is only done by humans who want to encourage more flowering in early season flowering plants. It is not in the actual plant's best interests, which would rather be left alone.
    Formative pruning, if necessary, should be done before the plant has broken into new growth, thereby ensuring that all available energy is put into the growth where you want it to be.
    I am not here to make friends, i post to share my 28 years of horticultural experience so that others may gain knowledge and foremost pleasure from gardening. That is my only concern, and if i step on some toes along the way so be it.

    Ps. your second post i agree with!


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