Help rescue my bay trees, please!

[Crumbelina]

I'm feeling very guilty as we've had two potted bay trees for around five years. They started off as beautifully pruned lollipop shapes and they've slowly grown out of shape with minimal pruning (as we've been busy with two house renovations and two babies in the interim)!

Does anyone have any advice on how I can get these back into shape and better condition, please as I have no idea how to start with pruning etc. For reference, we have a small NW facing walled garden in London.

Many thanks!

Forgot the pictures!

Yours doesn’t look too bad at all. Give it a trim a bit shorter than you want the finished article, to allow for this year’s growth. Now is a good time to do it. And give it a feed at the same time and get it into the best light available.

If you’re feeling brave I reckon you could take a third off it

Ah, thank you Trethew, that's good to hear! Like you say, I'll give them a good feed as well and think about the best position.

Just to check, if I prune them back will they become a bit more dense with more leaves? They look a bit sparse and sorry for themselves at the moment.

They will look a bit twiggy after they’ve been chopped but they will soon grow new leaves, and new side shoots will come from below the cuts. By the end of summer they should be nice and bushy. Going forward, nip off the shoots sticking out too far, as and when you feel like it, to keep them tight

They're not bad at all. Mine is now completely lopsided, half died and the other half is still completely fine (my solution is probably strategic positioning against the wall!)

Cloud

Wonderful thanks both! I'll be treating them with a lot more care from now on!