DescriptionDelivery & Guarantee
Bay Laurel Trees, Sweet Laurel, Edible Laurel, Grecian Laurel
Bay Laurel trees are sturdy evergreen plants with aromatic foliage that is often used in cooking.
Bay trees are fine specimen plants that naturally form a pyramid and are often used in topiary.
They are dense and clip well. A bay laurel hedge makes a smart boundary that will provide you and your friends with an unending supply of bay leaves for your kitchens.
Browse all of our other varieties of Laurel Hedging plant here.
Bay laurel leaves are lance-shaped with a delicately wrinkled, serrated edge and red stalks. In April, they produce quite small greenish yellow flowers with thick petals, which appear at the bases of the leaves and so aren't very showy, though bees love them. On female bay tree plants, pollinated flowers will become small shiny black fruit that attract thrushes.
Bay laurel leaves are widely used as a culinary herb and the best leaves are picked in the early morning between May and August. Dry them in a dark place and use them before they turn brown - in less than a year, in any case. Store them in a sealed container. They can be used fresh, though they are more bitter that way. Bay laurel, thyme and parsley in a cheesecloth bag makes a bouquet garni, a simple but delicious way of infusing soups and stews with flavour. Remember that bay leaves should be used whole but not actually eaten.
According to the legend, the beautiful nymph Daphne transformed into a bay tree to escape the advances of the god Apollo, who made the tree sacred in her memory. Roman artists usually depicted Apollo wearing a wreath of bay leaves, which was used as a symbol of achievement in Roman society - Laurus nobilis comes from the latin words for "praise" and "famous", given to poets, soldiers and athletes, as well as heads of state. The word bay means crown in old Anglo-Saxon. Many supernatural properties have been attributed to bay laurel wreaths and leaves, from warding off lightning to curing arthritis. The sudden withering of a bay tree was held to be an omen of a ruler's impending death.
Bay Tree Care
Bay trees in pots: Bay trees are mediterranean plants and can be a bit frost tender until they have acclimatised. If you live in a city in the North you should have no problems but, if you live in an exposed area, your plants may suffer a bit the winter. Bay trees in pots do very well and can be brought inside when the temperature falls. Put them in a cool place with as much light as possible, give them little water and no fertiliser. They actually like having their roots restricted and you will only need to repot them every 6 years or so, in a pot about 5cms wider - start off with a pot about 30cms, 12 inches, wide. Keep them healthy with an inch of compost once a year and some seaweed based plant food throughout the summer months. Left unpruned, a mature bay tree will reach about 12 metres, 40 feet.
Read our full terms and conditions here.
Delivery: The basic delivery charge for orders of bareroot plants is £9.49 + vat, which increases to £12.55 + vat if you add any pot-grown plants, standard trees or fruit trees to the order.
Because couriers sometimes experience delays, we schedule delivery by week, not by day. Therefore, please plan your planting day for the weekend at the end of the delivery week or for the week following delivery, at the earliest.
You can choose the delivery week that suits you during checkout and we will email you the day before your plants are due to arrive.
Payment: We do not charge your card until we begin to prepare your order for packing.
Guarantee: If any plants die within a year, we will replace them. We only ask that you follow our planting & growing instructions and sent us clear photographs of the dead plants in situ, so we can help to make sure that the replacement plants succeed. You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.
Please note that our guarantee is void if there is a hosepipe ban in your area: your newly planted hedging must be watered in dry weather while it is establishing. The best way to water is very thoroughly every few days: at least once a week if there is no heavy rain.
Our nursery has been supplying container grown and bareroot hedging plants to gardeners, farmers and town planners since 1949. Our website started in 2003, so we do understand the concerns that you may have about buying hedging plants online. If any of your plants are damaged when they arrive or if you are otherwise not satisfied with your order after you inspect it, please repackage it and contact us. We will give you a refund or send replacements and send a courier to come and collect the unwanted plants.
Your 12 Month Guarantee
If any of the plants that you buy from our nursery die within a year of delivery, we will replace them.
You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.
We do ask for clear photos of the plants in the soil, both taking in the planting area and close up. These will help us to work out what went wrong so we can give you the right advice for looking after your replacements.
The most important thing to do with establishing plants is to water them in dry weather. Water very thoroughly, but not too frequently: allow the top 2 inches of soil to dry out before you water again. In hot summer weather, this should mean that you are watering 1 to 3 times per week, depending on your site's drainage and exposure to wind and sun.
If there is heavy rain, that counts as a watering for your plants. If there is only very light rain during hot weather, this probably won't be of much use to your plants and they will still need watering.
Weeding is also very important; we strongly recommend using a mulch mat (for trees) or mulch fabric (for hedges) if weeding your new plants will be impractical.
Outside your 1 Year Guarantee period?
If your plants die or get sick after their first year, you are still welcome to take some photos and send them in: we will still be happy to give you what advice we can.
We can't make any promises, but if you want to buy replacements from us, give us a call and we'll see if we can arrange a discount for you.
Place an order for £250 excluding VAT and delivery and we deliver it for FREE!
Bare-root Plants are only delivered in the winter season, from November to April. Pot grown plants can be delivered all year round
Advantages of Bare-root plants:
You pay less for the same size plants.
You can carry and plan them easily.
You only plant them in winter, so they need less maintenance after
planting. The rain will water them for their first few months.
You get the biggest selection: Many trees are not sold pot-grown.
They are "asleep" in winter - this is the best time to transplant any tree.
They use fewer fertilisers & fungicides, less water and fuel in their production & delivery.
Advantages of Pot Grown plants:
Pot grown plants can be delivered & planted all year round.
Plants with tender roots & larger specimens must be delivered in pots.
Plants in pots can be kept for months longer if there is a delay in planting.
Our Advice to You:
If you can't wait to get planting, order Pot grown plants now.
If you are not in a hurry, order bare-root plants for delivery this winter. Simply add them to your basket and choose a winter delivery date that suits you during checkout.
This will reserve your plants before they sell out.
We won't charge you until the day before delivery, so cancelling your order is always easy.
If you are only ordering chemicals and other small items, delivery is £3.50
Our delivery charge for all other orders is £6.50 + VAT.
If you live in the Scottish Highlands or the Isle of Wight, there will be an extra charge of £15 + VAT on top of the appropriate basic charge, as listed above.
If your order is over £250 exc. VAT, there will be no delivery charge.
If you are uncertain, just add items to your basket which will calculate the basic shipping charge for you.
