Laurel Hedge

Josh2015

Hi, can anyone suggest why this laurel Hedge is so stringy, yellow and slow to grow after planting 2 years ago? Thanks.

baaba maal

In my experience, they do shed some of their lower leaves as they grow, so I don't think there is anything wrong with it- a bit of chicken manure fertiliser in spring would give it a boost- but real gardeners may disagree....

Apparently shotgun disease is the sign that a laurel isn't doing well, and you don't seem to have it.

Lumen

Looks like it's planted too close to the wall.

Josh2015

They were bought bareroot. Yes being close to the wall does not help. Someone suggested digging them up and re planting in a high ridge of fresh topsoil. The existing soil is very poor and clumpy. I have fed the hedge at intervals with various fertilisers from woodies.

patrickdoc1959

Josh

Its not shothole thats causing the problem... you would see the holes in the leaves.. its very clear that its bad soil thats causing your problem. i would recommend taking them up and adding to the soil.. well rotted cow manure will give better chance
very clear that the soil is the problem...

patrickdoc1959

if you dont do that they will remain yellow and never flourish... Even add some top soil too

patrickdoc1959

also if they are shredding leaves as you say it’s a sure sign that ground could be really wet!! Can’t see photo on my device!!!

If dig a little round it you will see if water is rising up you’ll know

Lumen

Go back to basics.

How high and deep do you want the hedge to be?

macraignil

Josh2015 wrote: »

They were bought bareroot. Yes being close to the wall does not help. Someone suggested digging them up and re planting in a high ridge of fresh topsoil. The existing soil is very poor and clumpy. I have fed the hedge at intervals with various fertilisers from woodies.

I'd be slow to dig up these laurel hedge plants. They do look like they are too close to the wall and there are signs the soil is not great but many plants only start growing well after a year or two settling into where they are planted. Digging them up could set them back again when they are just about to start growing at a better rate.

It might be worth checking the acidity of the soil just in case it is a factor and if you find it is acidic, lime can be added to make a more balanced pH which can help. Adding chemical fertilisers does not help soil structure and what I would do in your situation is use some organic material on the surface under the hedge plants. I'd clear away all grass near the base of the hedge and add horse manure or some home made compost to the surface and this will be brought down into the soil by earth worms over time and helps improve the soil structure naturally.

bb12

i planted laurel hedging 7 years ago...half of it took off really well and is now over 8 feet tall after pruning...the other half just sat looking at me blankly for the last 7 years....until this summer when it suddenly went whoooosh! it has a bit of catching up to do with the bottom half but hopefully the root system has finally established itself and there'll be lots more growth next summer.

standardg60

macraignil wrote: »

I'd be slow to dig up these laurel hedge plants. They do look like they are too close to the wall and there are signs the soil is not great but many plants only start growing well after a year or two settling into where they are planted. Digging them up could set them back again when they are just about to start growing at a better rate.

It might be worth checking the acidity of the soil just in case it is a factor and if you find it is acidic, lime can be added to make a more balanced pH which can help. Adding chemical fertilisers does not help soil structure and what I would do in your situation is use some organic material on the surface under the hedge plants. I'd clear away all grass near the base of the hedge and add horse manure or some home made compost to the surface and this will be brought down into the soil by earth worms over time and helps improve the soil structure naturally.

+1

patrickdoc1959

Absolutely!!

But Laurel is incredibly fast growing and should of taken off my now ( think you said its two year old)... the hedge will never flourish unless you can get the **** soil sorted. ( wouldn't say there much soil in it)

applying fertilizer will do little or nothing for them if the ground is as bad as it looks... you certainly need to add a horse/ well rotted cow manure to the ground...

Lifting the plants will not be a problem if you do it in now, but if you are doing it cutting really wide with the spade so you get as much of root as possible ( after all if you put them in as BR, its exactly how they came).. when you get them out, cut right down into the ground as much as you can and add this organic matter, ( as much as you can get)... but make sure if your using farmyard manure its really well rotted)

Hoof Hearted2

No need to do anything as drastic as digging them up, a shot of chicken manure pellets next spring and every 2-3 months after that for the growing season should see a dramatic improvement.
See how you get on with that and reassess the situation next autumn.

Lumen

I know I bang on about this repeatedly, but IMO cherry laurel is a big plant that needs space. It's particularly inappropriate for planting inches from a wall, and isn't the right choice if you want something compact e.g. less than 3ft deep and 6ft tall.

standardg60

Lumen wrote: »

I know I bang on about this repeatedly, but IMO cherry laurel is a big plant that needs space. It's particularly inappropriate for planting inches from a wall, and isn't the right choice if you want something compact e.g. less than 3ft deep and 6ft tall.

How close it is to the wall is irrelevant in this case. Plant roots will naturally follow the path of least resistance, so they will simply grow along and away from any obstruction, ie the foundation. As long as there's enough space to plant them in the first place they'll be fine. I regularly maintain laurel hedges to as little as four feet high.

There is absolutely no need for the op to dig these plants up. The advice given to feed and improve the soil is correct.

Lumen

standardg60 wrote: »

How close it is to the wall is irrelevant in this case. Plant roots will naturally follow the path of least resistance, so they will simply grow along and away from any obstruction, ie the foundation. As long as there's enough space to plant them in the first place they'll be fine. I regularly maintain laurel hedges to as little as four feet high.

There is absolutely no need for the op to dig these plants up. The advice given to feed and improve the soil is correct.

So is a four foot high laurel hedge planted that close to a wall something that you would advocate?

In my unprofessional opinion its the wrong plant in the wrong place.

OP, if you want to help mitigate the rain shadow effect of the wall, remove a decent strip of grass so the roots aren't competing, and then cardboard and mulch the bare soil.

standardg60

I'm simply saying that in this case a three foot high wall and it's foundation is not going to affect the ability of those plants to grow in any way. There isn't a rain shadow, the wall isn't tall enough.
The presence of the weeds and moss in the lawn confirm that the issue is the soil. The right plant in the right place is the one that does the job it's designed to do, and in this case a cherry laurel is fine.

Josh2015

Thanks for the comments.
I have dug up 1 plant and have attached pic of its roots.
I was hoping to have a hedge of 5 to 6ft in height.
I put a memebrane down and covered with stones after I planted the hedge. I will remove this membrane and the stones.
I had originally planned on digging up the plants and re planting in a ridge of new soil.
Looking at the comments I will leave them and add well rotted farmyard manure and see if this improves the situation

Josh2015

The hedge appears to growing this season. I have fed it every 2 weeks.

henke

Josh2015 wrote: »

The hedge appears to growing this season. I have fed it every 2 weeks.

Can I ask what you are feeding them with? I planted Portuguese laure two summers ago alongside the side of the house and some of the plants are slow to grow. The ones in parallel to the gable of the house seem to be doing better which makes me think wind is hindering the others.

Josh2015

Its just a standard fertiliser from woodies. I believe people also use Tomato feed.