A popular broadleaf evergreen , bay laurel ( Laurus nobilis ) is easy train for their fragrant and flavorful leaves .
These Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree are also extremely various , adding striking decorative value in varied form such as hedge , shrub , tree , or topiary specimens in both containers and garden beds .
And a key element to make healthy , lush foliation , plus maintaining a manageable form and size , is annual pruning .
Photo by Lorna Kring.
Cutting back bay , aka rightful or kitchen laurel , regularly creates dense branching with an copiousness of leaves .
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This abundance makes them an outstanding choice for cut back and sculpt into any material body from crisp , box-shaped screens to abstract or geometrical touchstone .
Photo by Lorna Kring.
They can also be grown in a loose flesh , either as a multi - stemmed shrub or solitary tree , glorious with a lavish canopy of chartreuse to dark green leaves .
Again , steady sustenance is want to encourage slow foliage and to keep their ambitious growth in check .
Is your garden ready for beautiful bay honour with lots of fragrant foliage ? Then focalize your shears and countenance ’s get into how and when to prune bay laurel tree !
Here ’s what you ’ll find forrader :
What You’ll Learn
Bay Tree Basics
expert Timing for Fast Regrowth
Hedge and Topiary Shaping
sucker and shoot
Trimming Shrubs
Heading Back tree
Rejuvenate Overgrown Specimens
harvest Leaves
Bay trees do best in a cheery , protect emplacement in humus robust , well - drain soil with a slimly acidulent to alkaline pH of 5.5 to 7.5 .
They ’re hardy in USDA zona 7 to 11 , and outside of their range can begrown as container plants , but you ’ll require to overwinter them indoors or in a protect outbuilding like a glasshouse or orangery .
You canlearn more about how to spring up bay laurel in our guide .
A popular kitchen herb , the leaf are used dry out or fresh in a panoptic compass of savory dish , making them a popular option for kitchen and potager gardens .
And as attractive evergreen plant , their heavy ramification and buddy-buddy foliage makesL. nobilisa rude for stately or unaffixed hedges , filmdom , showy shrubs , standalone Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , or shaped as topiary .
Although growing is n’t fast , it is unwavering . Mature bay Stan Laurel tree diagram can pass an telling height of up to 55 feet and still keep impenetrable foliage – but uphold a manageable size of it is easily accomplish by rise a compact miscellanea and some annual maintenance .
These resilient trees react thirstily to either a light trim or racy pruning , and quickly fill out with a refreshful flush of summer leaves .
They can even take a hard cutting back , with the chief trunk severed if needed – they ’ll come back with new development and produce another verdant canopy in just a few years !
But how you prune your bay laurel tree diagram depend on how you grow them .
Container plants , bush , and trees call for to be cut back to maintain a achievable sizing .
Hedges , screens , and topiary are doubly cut to get a luxuriant rampart of shiny , scented leaf for maximal ornamental appeal .
And of course , you want to have plenty of folio to reap for the kitchen as well !
Okay , that ’s the staple … now let ’s move on to the particulars of how and when to clip bay tree diagram .
Bay trees can be given a light trim at any fourth dimension of the year , but the best time to prune is in belated springiness after new outgrowth has emerged .
At this metre , light - form container plants , shrubs , and tree diagram can be trimmed light to head back last year ’s ontogeny .
Or if they call for to be resized or reshaped , this is also the metre for a hard cut back where they can be reduced by as much as one - third of their overall size .
tardy fountain is also the time to part shaping hedges , privacy screens , and topiary standards with a light trim to establish the desire abstract .
By summertime , kitchen laurels are growing much more smartly and putting out plenty of new increment .
This is when hedges and topiaries are given a second trimming to complete the desired shape or give the plant a clipped visual aspect if desired .
To start work hedges , screen , and topiaries and promote furcate , remove any wintertime damage leave , and broken or deadened stems using clean , sharp shears or a pruning power saw .
This Nipponese - style fold up cut back sawfrom Garrett Wadeis ideal . It ’s penetrating , sturdy , and bend into the handle for thickset store .
turn up Pruning Saw
switch off back damaged leaves to the closest hardening of young buds or set of level-headed leaves .
At this point , do n’t concern too much about unsightly divots or dips left behind after remove cold - damage leaves – the dissipated summer growth quickly fills in any gaps .
utilize clean , sharp shear to head back last year ’s growth , snip off stems just above a set of healthy buds or leaf .
cut back lightly or remove as much as one - third of the overall sizing as desired .
You ’ll necessitate to finish defining in summer when the trees are crusade out lots of new growth .
To finish your hedge or topiary with a soft , leafy look , apply deal shears to selectively swerve back tips and stems , rectify the shape you commence in spring .
If you opt a nippy , clip tone , employ pruning shears or a hedging pruner to slew back leaves and stems into discriminating silhouettes .
Black and Decker Hedge Trimmer
Something like this 16 - inch hedging trimmer from Black and Decker , available via Walmartmakes dissolute work of shaping hedges and topiary .
With embayment tree diagram , you may tailor through the leaves without concern about impart behind unsightly brownish edges – once they bring around , only a slight grey-haired mark remain at the cut edge .
As summertime forward motion and new foliation emerge , give your flora a light clipping to maintain remainder and the desired physical body .
Removing chump and shoots is necessary for topiary and trees , or anywhere you want to preserve a undivided trunk with a light , spare visual aspect .
sucker emerge each year around the groundwork of plant life as new , tender stems . Shoots are the little sister limb that emerge from bare trunks .
For hedges , bush , and screens , suckers and shoots can be left in place because they expand the base into clumps and improve the concentration of the foliage .
To remove sucker from trees and topiary , scrape forth grease from around the fool then use clean , sharp shears to slue them below the dirt level .
The broken you may curve them , the less chance they have of live on to sprout again .
To remove shoot egress from bleak trunk , use clean , sharp shears to snip them off as close to the trunk as possible .
As bring up , when shoot and suckers are left in place bay laurel forms bushy clumps with multiple , obtusely page stems .
Over time , thump poke out outwards into new territory , supply girth to their overall size and creating lovely evergreen plant projection screen .
To manage the show of your shrubs , set forth by removing any wintertime - damaged leaves as well as any broken , crossway , or drained branch .
To assert their size of it and shape , cut back last year ’s ontogeny to a solidifying of healthy buds or leave of absence , cutting back the tips of each branch by up to one third of its duration .
If your bush has spread out too much for your liking , you’re able to scale down its width by removing up to one third of the stems from the exterior perimeter , thin at , or just below the soil horizontal surface .
Although bay Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree can grow tall without getting long-shanked or thin , on a regular basis heading back the branches helps to carry on an likable figure and keeps plants salubrious with vivacious foliage as well .
“ Heading back ” is a pruning terminal figure to describe the process of cutting the terminal stem of a branch back to a bud . “ cutting ” refers to the complete remotion of a ramification where it joins the main stem .
To maintain the shape of your tree , start by get rid of any bushed and discredited limb , and ones that are traverse or grow towards the center of the canopy .
utilize clean , sharp deal pruners on small branches and loppers or a acute adage on larger ones .
To tighten the size of the specimen , maneuver back the produce tips by up to a third of their entire length .
To reshape the visibility , cut back the growing tips as desired and melt off out little limbs by cutting them off where they issue from a strong side offshoot .
If you care your trees to have a au naturel body , take away the new shoots that appear each year . curve as close-fitting to the trunk as possible .
Mature , overgrown bay laurels can also tolerate a very hard cutting back and can even recuperate when the chief luggage compartment is cut off .
But regrowth is slow and cutting down the trunk leaves an unsightly bare tree stump . Instead , plan to bear out a tough cold shoulder back over two or three seasons .
For a gruelling cut back , in late spring take away one - third of the overall size of it for your first year cut .
In the 2d year , snub back by another one - third , form as you go . Just attempt to forefend cutting away last yr ’s outgrowth and any young shoots on the lower contribution of the plant life – pass on them in office so they bring forth foliage to cover stark branches .
In the third year , head up back the hint of the old years ’ growth , cutting them away at a strong side bud . Selectively fragile out any continue arm in areas you ’d like to reduce , get rid of lowly stems or diminished twigs at the juncture where they emerge from a firm side branch .
circularize out over two or three year , you’re able to significantly reduce the overall sizing of your tree but still revel the lush foliage and harvest leaves as well .
Speaking of harvesting , true laurel leave of absence are delightful and used dried or refreshful in a mixture of bag !
They can be harvested at any time of the year for fresh utilisation .
But the summer months of June , July , and August are when they have the high concentrations of redolent essential oils . If you plan to dry the leaves , use those collect in summer for the good look .
For the new , most acute flavors , leave should be picked in the morning after the dew has vaporise and before the live sunshine disperses their oils .
ascertain more about how to harvest bay leafage in our guide .
Fine Foliage
full-bodied and versatile plants grow for their flavorful parting , bay bay wreath trees also make extremely attractive foliage plant that can be grow in container or as hedges , screens , shrubs , topiary , and Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree !
Cut back in belated fountain after new outgrowth has egress and give hedges and topiary a 2d pruning in summer to refine their shape or to create a crisp visibility .
For prominent , overgrown tree , reduce them back over the form of a few seasons so you could still revel their all right foliage in the kitchen and garden as you resize .
And formore information about growing bay laurel in your garden , study these guidebook next :
Photos by Lorna Kring © Ask the Experts , LLC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.See our TOSfor more details . Product picture via Garrett Wade and Walmart . Uncredited pic : Shutterstock .
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Lorna Kring
