Laurel Hedging

[watchtheglitterdustswirl]

Hello,

Novice gardener here. I tend to plant things and hope for the best with varying levels of success!

I had previously had bamboo in pots along my fence but I've had them over a year and they're bushing out nicely but not up much. So I've moved them to another part of the garden where they can just look nice as opposed to being proper hedgy things for privacy.

I've bought 8 bare root Laurel bushes and planted them along my fence at a distance of around 0.3-0.5m I soaked the soil in miracle grow water first and watered them after (I bought them online so they've been in transit for two days, thought they'd need a drink!).

They're just over a metre tall each, some a little taller.

How quickly can I expect them to grow (I want them tall, dense and big for privacy, they're against a 6ft fence but I'd like to maintain them above that height) and is there anything I need to do specifically to look after them? We have one other Laurel bush in the side garden that I literally do nothing to except trim once a year because it shoots up and out massively each year but that's probably 10+ years old (inherited it when we bought the house) so it's well established.

Thank you, more expert gardeners than me!

I’d expect them to put on about 2ft a year. Water them well for the first year while they establish. It feels counterintuitive but giving them a trim helps them bush out and stay dense, I’d be inclined to give them a small trim now so they can channel energy into making strong roots.

As an aside, your bamboo may fill it quicker with some nitrogen feed.

I bought 12 inch tall bare root laurels 4 and a half years ago they’re about 10 feet tall now.

Sorry to hijack - I've decided to grow a laurel hedge where our front fence has just blown down, rather than repairing/replacing the fence. Where did you buy your plants from? I need enough to replace 6-7 metres of fence so need A LOT of plants!

I got mine online from Best4Hedgjng

@Spaghettio

Sorry to hijack - I've decided to grow a laurel hedge where our front fence has just blown down, rather than repairing/replacing the fence. Where did you buy your plants from? I need enough to replace 6-7 metres of fence so need A LOT of plants!

I used Hedges Direct. Took about ten days to come and seemed reasonably priced.

The plants looks healthy.. but as I said I'm far from an expert!!

@GodspeedJune

I’d expect them to put on about 2ft a year. Water them well for the first year while they establish. It feels counterintuitive but giving them a trim helps them bush out and stay dense, I’d be inclined to give them a small trim now so they can channel energy into making strong roots.

As an aside, your bamboo may fill it quicker with some nitrogen feed.

Thank you, I will try that!

Thanks everyone. I'd love for them to be 10 feet tall but I think that's as big as I'd want, I do need to be able to trim them!

Thank you both! 🙏🏻 😊

They've got to settle in and root themselves properly before they take off, which might take a year or so.

It might seem counter-intuitive, but to get a bushy hedge, you don't let it grow to full height and then expect it to fill out widthways, you have to prune it when it is smaller to get more branches lower down.

I inherited a laurel hedge when I moved here. I knew nothing about gardening at all.

They grow well with no help at all (in my experience!). I would say keep on top of trimming once they’re established, otherwise it becomes a nightmare, that’s the only downside though - don’t want to put you off. They’re really easy otherwise and provide great year-round greenery. I love mine apart from the fact that I haven’t gotten on top of maintaining it!