Laurel hedge pot or bareoot

I have always planted bare rooted laurel and have never had failures unless ground conditions didn't suit like being too wet,potted plants would fail in similar conditions as well. If I were you I would go with the bare rooted

Potted less likely to suffer wind rock, I'd imagine.

I'd go for bare rooted plants. Before you buy them, have all your ground work done ie dig out a trench and be ready to put them in straight away. They need to go straight into the ground otherwise the roots dry out.

jomalone14 wrote: »

I'd go for bare rooted plants. Before you buy them, have all your ground work done ie dig out a trench and be ready to put them in straight away. They need to go straight into the ground otherwise the roots dry out.

I would normally in this situation choose bare root plants.

Although digging a trench to put the new plants in is one approach it can cause more soil disturbance and so cause some upset in the soil environment. I have had better success particularly with bare root hedging with just digging in a shovel and levering open an opening just wide enough to fit in the bare roots of the plant and then simply compacting the soil around the plant. In this way soil deeper down stays deeper down and soil from near the surface stays near the surface and consequently soil microbes adapted to the surface and deeper down retain their normal position and continue to act to create a healthy soil. This is how the no dig gardening advocates explain why their methods can be more productive than the active digging methods and I think the same logic explains why I have found planting hedging this way is more successful. The girlfriends father also says he finds this less digging method more successful.

While this easier planting method is another reason to go for the bare root hedging I think you should make your choice based on the plants you are offered. If the potted ones do have root growth coming out of the drainage holes at the end of the pot it would indicate they have been in the pots for a while and although they could be a bit more work to plant it might be worth the extra money to have the stronger plants. Make sure also that they have not become pot-bound by popping one out and ensuring the roots are not a congested mass that could hinder growth later on. As mentioned earlier there is also the advantage with pots that you can take more time to plant them as they will be protected a bit more in the pots. At the same time the method described to just lever open an opening in the soil just wide enough to fit in the roots should not take more than a day to complete. Posted some video clips of my most recent hedge planting here.

eoin.d wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice. Where I'm planting is on the edge of a lawn. I have taken a 2 foot wide strip of scraw from it, this was hard going and the ground is hard to dig so I was going to hire a petrol rotavator and loosen the topsoil up a bit.
I was going to dig individual holes 1.5 foot apart. A spade depth deep and a spade wide. I was going to dig at same time as planting because with work I can only get time at the weekend and I didn't want to leave holes open for a week with all the rain we have been getting and everything turn to muck.

Would the Rotavator go deep enough to be of any use to you?

When I planted potted hedging I dug shallow, saucer shaped holes and built the soil up into a bit of a cone above the surrounding ground level. There was very little digging down.

If you dig deep holes in poor draining soil they will fill like buckets.

Roots mostly grow outwards in the top few inches of soil which air can reach. That's where all the good stuff happens.

Rotorvating does not improve small scale soil structure and may make it worse.

Be gentle.

eoin.d wrote: »

This would be good soil with good drainage, it would have a few small field stones in it and lawn has been sown awhile so it's not all that easy dig. This is why I was getting a rotavator just to loosen soil up a bit and make job easier

If itcwas me i would Spray a two foot strip with weedkiller and let it till the grass has good and dead nearly rotted after about a month or longer then plant your hedge . No panic now as long as it's done by late March.

Hello Guys

theres no need why it isnt possible to get potted (1.5 - 2 litre potted ) plants for the E2.50 mark!!

Potted laurel is most certainly higher quality..the roots are well formed and better than bareroot,no doubt about that, after all bareroot plants are just pulled from ground
plus many potted plants will have a slow release fert in them

always go potted ( If there not too expensive, buy youl def get potted laurels, 45-60cm ) for 2.50

thanks

patrick

Hoof Hearted2 wrote: »

Bare root or root balled should always be the preferred option when available, the reason been is that they adapt and take more readily than container grown plants.

Not sure that's true for all plants. Some are particularly sensitive to root disturbance, e.g Eucalyptus particularly, and Aronia.

patrickdoc1959 wrote: »

Hoof Hearted2


Much appreciated for the reply...
There's absolutely no evidence to suggest that bare root plants are better than potted plants..

ask anyone who knows what they are talking about they will tell you that the potted plants should also be taken over the BR, (after all the very nature of the first comment on this suggested their downfall, when the original poster said that some may fail)

Pot bound can be an issue i will give you that, but its ridiculous to suggest that a potted plant that has a complete root formed as opposed to one that has very little is simple ridiculous.

and with respect, i can assure that as someone who formally owned a local wholesale garden centre and done many hedging projects nationwide, my advice is simply not incorrect...

these have also in most cases been sprayed for systemic issues like, hole-shot which can be real problem later on

Also, there is no reason why cannot get potted laurel for 2.50 a plant nationwide

Hi Patrick,

Let me expand on what I said above, when I say bare root plants are better than pot grown what I mean is that BR and RB adapt to the soil conditions sooner and thinking about it logically that makes sense and you would have to agree, also from my experience having worked in the industry for 35+ years, that has been the case.


I work as a landscape gardener and we used to own and run a garden center and nursery and from my experience working in the retail side of things, there was always a tendecy/bias to selling current stock, in practice that meant recommending to the client what we currently held in stock as opposed to outsourcing, now from a commercial and stock point of view that makes perfect sense, but it wasn't necessarily the best option for the client.

From my experience, I still maintain that the best option for hedging is BR or RB when available and the quality of those plants has never been an issue as we have very good growers in Ireland, pot grown hedging plants would only be an option for me when BR and RB are unavailable or the quantities required are very small. e.g. less than 10.

While I respect your opinion, I don't agree with it based on my professional experience, but we can agree to disagree;).