New Hedge

S

Squire

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I am thinking about planting a new hedge and the shrub/plant I have in mind is Prunus Lusitanica (Portuguese Laurel).

The problem is, I have a requirement for about 200m of hedge and any plants I have seen in local garden centres have been semi-mature and are crazy money.

I am in no hurry for this hedge and am prepared to grow it from start. Does anyone know if this plant is suitable for "cutting" and if so how/when is this done. Alternatively, does anyone know of a source for small (read : cheap) potted specimens of this plant?
 
Squire said:
......Prunus Lusitanica (Portuguese Laurel).

The problem is, I have a requirement for about 200m of hedge and any plants I have seen in local garden centres have been semi-mature and are crazy money.
Click to expand...

The Portuguese Laurel is probably one of the best hedges you can plant.

Naturally you can take cuttings from an existing laurel, but the trouble is getting fresh/new growth to take the cutting from. You would have to initially buy x number of plants, collect the new growth and root them.

If you knew somebody (your not getting mine) who would let you take cuttings off their hedge you would at least be off to a good start.

A €6 or €7 euro for a 300 cm plant you would have a well established hedge in 3 or 4 years. I think they can be planted at 1 m centres.
 
[broken link removed] sell several varieties of laurel including the one you are after - €250 for 100 bare rooted Portuguese Laurel plants. It might be a bit late to sow bare rooted hedgigng though so check it out. FWIW I bought mature beech hedging from Future Forest in Spring 07 and found the whole service very good with top quality plants - every one of them still thriving.
 


Yeah, it's a fantastic hedge all right.

There is a mature hedge near me that I presume would be suitable for taking cuttings but I don't know the owner.


That's strange, I checked out that site earlier and it was showing that plant as "out of stock". I've sent them an e-mail anyway.

Does Laurel come as a bare root? I presumed they only came potted. If bare root is an option then I would be prepared to wait until next Autumn to sow.

Thanks for the input.
 
We are paying €4.25 each for aprox 2' ones. Great hedge, we have it on one side and the back and now we are going to plant the other side. (our planning said that on this side it had to be a decidious hedge, but we are going to chance laurel now, we were going to plant copper beech and thats why we waited so long to decide - about 9 years since we got planning and everything else we done was by the book).

OH trims the hedge about once a year on sides and top to keep it leafy to the ground. We used potted before and are going to use potted again. We have to buy aprox 160 no this time. Our hedge is about 7yrs old and aprox 7' high now in places which is the max that we plan to let it go.
 
€4.25 sounds good for a decent sized potted plant. Where are you getting them NHG? PM with supplier if you would prefer not to name them on site.

How far apart are you spacing them?
 
Ok, so I've been onto a few suppliers and the best deal I have received is for 2ft bare root at €2.50 each.

Is it not a bit late to be planting bare root? The supplier says they are in good order and will be fine once they are planted within the next two weeks?

Anyone any tips on the best way to plant these? Spacing? Fertiliser? Trench or individual holes?

I'm afraid my knowledge of gardening does not extend beyond planting cobblelock and pruning grass.
 

I'm not sure if it's too late to sow bare rooted plants - November to March is normally the time when you sow bare rooted hedging. I've used the following method to sow around 350 hedge plants of different varieties over the last eight years or so. Spray the area to be planted with Round up to kill all vegetation and continue to keep this area weed free as the hedge is growing. Dig individual holes big enough so the roots of the plants can comfortably fit in the hole. The spacing between the plants will depend on their size/type of hedge you sow. Buckingham nurseries have detailed info. on spacing between hedge plants. Backfill the holes with a mixture of multipurpose compost and clay. Water the plants over the summer if it's very dry. I'm not a horticulturist but this method has worked well for me over the years.
 
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