Why should I plant a Portuguese Laurel hedge?
Portuguese Laurel (Prunus lusitanica) is also known as Portugal Laurel and although it has been around for a long time, has only recently gained significant popularity as a mainstream hedging plant. It forms a dense evergreen hedge with dark green leaves and produces a proliferation of white flowers in late spring. It should not be confused with ordinary Laurel (Cherry Laurel or Common Laurel) as although it is related, it is significantly different in both its appearance and its growth rate.
How tall will Portuguese Laurel grow?
A single Portuguese Laurel can be grown into a tree and will grow to a medium sized tree if left for long enough, although it is relatively slow growing. When planting a Portuguese Laurel hedge, it can quite happily be grown as a short hedge of around 3-4ft in height but will be equally happy grown as a taller hedge with a height of 6-7ft or more.
How quickly will a Portuguese Laurel hedge grow?
Portuguese Laurel are relatively slow growing (certainly much slower than ordinary Laurel or Leylandii) and can put on up to 1ft (30cm) of growth a year if left untrimmed. Once the hedge has reached its desired height it should be trimmed at that height accordingly to maintain its size and increase its density. This will slow down the upward growth of your hedge and encourage growth sideways to make a denser hedge.
When should I clip or trim a Portuguese Laurel hedge?
A Portuguese Laurel hedge will need to be clipped annually in the spring or autumn as you would with any other hedge. We recommend trimming them in the spring before a new flush of growth.
How far apart should I plant a Portuguese Laurel hedge?
Portuguese Laurel should be planted 2ft (60cm) apart regardless of how tall or short they are when you buy them and careful preparation of the planting site is important. See section below on how to look after your Portuguese Laurel hedge after planting.
How do I look after my Portuguese Laurel hedge after planting?
Although Portuguese Laurel plants will put up with most soil types, we recommended that the planting soil is mixed with compost to give the plants the best environment to grow in for their first year. After planting, your Portuguese Laurel hedge should be watered regularly during its first year to give it the best chance of survival and this is especially important if your hedge is being planted in the drier summer months.
How do I water my Portuguese Laurel hedge?
Watering a Portuguese Laurel hedge is especially important if you are planting during the summer or a dry period. For watering, we recommend using leaky hose (sometimes described as porous pipe) which can be connected to your existing hose pipe and will slowly leak water onto the roots of your hedge in a controlled manner to ensure that it soaks in and your hedge becomes properly watered. Leaky hose is cheap, easy to install and very effective. See our Accessories page for more details on leaky hose.
Is Portuguese Laurel tolerant of different soil types?
Portuguese Laurel will tolerate most soil types (including dry sites) but do not like being in waterlogged soil.
Does Portuguese Laurel like full sun or shade?
Portuguese Laurel will grow well in full sunshine or partial shade.
We usually stock a selection of different sizes of Portuguese Laurel throughout the year. In the colder months of the year (beginning in the autumn) we supply a large range of different sizes of root balled Portuguese Laurel (particularly larger sizes) which can be a more cost effective way of planting a large Portuguese Laurel hedge.
For more information on our availability of Portuguese Laurel or if you have any questions or queries about existing Portuguese Laurel hedges or need advice about planting a new Portuguese Laurel hedge, please call us on 01252 714552 or email [email protected]