Turning a laurel into a tree - guidance needed!

[SkodaLabia]

I read this very interesting article, and, as my garden is pretty small but we really need screening, I thought I'd give it a go.

However, the article gives advice on how to turn a laurel shrub into a lollipop type tree, whereas I really love the shape on this pic. To get this shape, do I keep all three stems that are currently coming up from the soil, but keep taking all the leaves and side shoots off the bottom third?

We have a laurel tree in our garden. It is an absolute sodding nightmare and our tree surgeon is removing it next week. I can advise on turning a laurel into woodchip and logs if you like?

Oh no! What's wrong with it? I want a small evergreen tree (not a conifer) for screening purposes, and the article about using shrubs as trees made me think it would be a good way to go. Argh!

If you're cultivating it yourself it won't be a problem as you'll keep it under control. We bought a house with a laurel which hadn't been pruned in an age and it was completely out of control. It is around 7m tall and it sheds like nobody's business. It's evergreen obviously but it seems to shed and replace itself at a ridiculous speed. I clear the leaves every couple of days but if I don't, the garden is full of them again. I've no idea how the ruddy thing survives with its perpetual undressing. It's huge too and blocks out the sun to an alarming extent. It does suffer with nutrient deprivation occasionally too and you can find that it goes yellow/brown in places which is another reason to keep on top of pruning.

A smaller one or one you've lollipopped should look lovely and can be a practical screening solution.

They don't like too much water either so don't plant them in very wet conditions or you'll find the leaves start to yellow. Soil should be very well drained.

In terms of pruning them, you need to do it fairly lightly tbh. They don't like hard pruning and you'll slow down the growth.

Our neighbour at the bottom of the garden uses buddleia for screening and it's absolutely beautiful. He says it's easy to shape too.

That sounds more encouraging. So, to get it like the one in the picture I would take all the sides shoots off the bottom two thirds, would you say?

I've lived in a place with out of control laurel bushes too, and they were impossible to trim, I remember teetering on a stepladder whilst wielding the electric hedge trimmers, trying to reach the centre. That's why I'm definitely aiming for a tree-like shape!

I love buddleia and have a teeny one I grew from a cutting, but aren't they deciduous? Or have I got that wrong?

just in defence of laurel I've inherited a laurel tree and it's no trouble whatsoever - doesn't shed any leaves....It's also probably about 6 metres high. I also have enormous laurel hedge which I need to tame which is about 10 foot high and 50 foot long. It does look great though but it's on my to do list to prune it before it gets too high.

This is evergreen (Photonia Fraseri) but if you already have laurel in your garden it's worth a try in pruning it to shape

Laurel is fine if you look after it. Ours is totally out of control.

Buddleia can be deciduous, semi-evergreen or completely evergreen.

If it was my laurel, I'd trim back the bottom two thirds a bit at a time and encourage the top to grow to shape. If you need to hard prune it (cut off lots from the bottom) do it at the end of next winter once it's stopped frosting overnight and then carry on shaping from spring. Don't prune it in mid winter, in fact don't prune it past the end of August.

Laurels are trees much loved by birds because they provide shelter through the year and are good for nesting.
Round here are many laurel hedges which are pruned by the council about once every 2 years to a hedge shape and no special technique is applied.
Other ways of growing are as topiary.
This link explains how to prune a laurel into a tree
homeguides.sfgate.com/prune-english-laurel-make-tree-57568.html

Thanks all, I'm much encouraged. My wannabe laurel tree is still in the pot it came in from the garden centre, so it's only about a foot high. That article I linked to says to do any pruning before it gets into the ground, but is it ok to do it now? Particularly as I'm not going as severe as a lollipop look, I want the three trunks that it already has.
Good news about not shedding leaves, I'm putting it on a boundary and I don't want to give my neighbour extra gardening work.

Oh, here's a question, how far from the boundary wall should I plant it? A metre? Or doesn't it matter if I'm planning on pruning it - I can take the growth off the back so it isn't pushing into the wall?

That Photonia could be a good option too, I need to screen three sides of the garden but don't want a formal hedge.

Been researching evergreen buddleia and the only one I can find that's fully evergreen is a small variety, so may not be great for screening. I'm in NI, in a coastal location, so I'd imagine a semi-evergreen would be bald in the winter!

Which laurel did you buy? If it's Prunus laurocerasus then it will indeed become a thug - will sneak up on you after a few years' good behaviour. If it's P. lusitanica, Portugese laurel, that's more refined and will be much more attractive pruned as you intend to. If your plant is only a foot high just plant it now and let it grow, saving the pruning for when it is established.

It's the thug type.

Oh well, you have been warned!

You're scaring me now! Surely if I keep it tamed and don't let it get too wide so I can still get the secateurs to the middle on the top, I'll be alright? Won't I? (gulp)

If you keep it under control from the beginning it will be fine. Treat it as bonsai!