Cherry Laurel - Prunus laurocerasus Rotundifolia

Cherry Laurel Hedge Plants - Delivered by Mail Order from the Nursery with a 1 Year Guarantee

The Common or Cherry Laurel, Prunus laurocerasus, is an outstanding broadleaf evergreen hedging plant for problem areas. It has bright, glossy leaves and it is fast growing, very shade tolerant, thrives on poor soils and it is resistant to roadside pollution. Good drainage is its only requirement.
Cherry Laurel can be clipped as a specimen shrub and if it is left to grow freely, it will become a multi-stemmed, fairly upright tree 6-8 metres tall.
If you have chalky soil, or if you are planting in an exposed coastal location, use Portugal Laurel instead. Spotted Laurel is similar to common laurel.

Cherry Laurel hedge plants are delivered bareroot during winter (Nov-March) and pot-grown year round. Bareroot Cherry Laurel bushes are cheaper than pot grown plants. Pot grown Cherry Laurel is available in the largest sizes.

Choosing a size: When you are ordering Cherry Laurel plants for a hedge, we generally recommend that you use plants that are graded at 30/50cms or 40/60cms. They are cheaper than large plants, easier to handle and they will establish well in poor conditions. Use larger plants when you need a tall hedge quickly, or for instant impact as a shrub. All our hedge plants are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Spacing a Cherry Laurel hedge:
Plant bareroot Cherry Laurel hedging at 2-3 plants per metre, 33-50cms apart.
Plant the pot-grown Cherry Laurel at 2 plants per metre, 50cms apart.

General description of Common Laurel plants:
Cherry laurel is a tough, vigorous evergreen with large, thick, glossy leaves that are effective at blocking light, muffling sound and slowing down wind that passes through it. This plant is excellent for dry, shady places with poor soil. It casts full shade and even chemically inhibits the growth of seeds in the soil underneath it, so weeds are unable to grow. Don't plant any precious bulbs or other small plants next to a cherry laurel hedge, they will be affected too.
Its flowers are attractive, rising little spires of white, scented blossom that attract bees and butterflies. The flowers mature into bitter, cherry like fruit, which are eaten by birds.
Every part of the plant is poisonous, apart from the flesh of the fruit. None of tastes nice, so children shouldn't want to eat any of it, but we don't recommend planting a cherry laurel hedge next to livestock.
Cherry laurel is commonly planted as cover for game and wildlife.

History & uses of Prunus laurocerasus
Prunus laurocerasus is sometimes called English Laurel because it has been popular in British gardens since it was introduced from Turkey in the 1500's, but it is not native in most of Europe. The name laurocerasus means "laurel (lauro) cherry (cerasus)". It is related to cherries and other trees with stone-centred fruit, like peaches or plums. Although its evergreen leaves resemble a true laurel's, they aren't related. It's easy to tell cherry laurel leaf apart from a bay laurel: it's important to be sure if you are going to cook with it!
The variety that we grow is Prunus laurocerasus Rotundifolia, which has a more evenly rounded leaf than other cultivars and really bushy growth that suits a hedge perfectly.
This plant has been used for its poisonous properties since ancient times, such as poisoning enemy wells in Roman era sieges and, more recently, to kill insects and small animals for scientific study.

Growing Cherry Laurel plants:
Cherry Laurel will grow well in most conditions, as long as the soil drainage is good. It thrives in the shade and on poor, dry, compacted urban soil. It is suitable for exposed, windy places but it is not recommended for the coast.
It is best to plant laurel on sites with a good airflow, which helps to reduce the spread of unsightly fungal diseases. Laurel can be prone to mildew if it is planted in humid places.
Common laurel will not grow well if the site is too damp and it doesn't tolerate chalk.
Portugal laurel will grow on chalk and near the coast.

Prepare your site before planting:
It is good to dig over the area where you plant a hedge several months in advance, especially if the soil is poor. Destroy the weeds first: nettles, brambles and ground elder are tough and a glyphosate based weed-killer is the best way to remove them. Then dig the soil over; remove rocks, roots and other rubbish. Mix in well rotted compost or manure down to the depth of about 2 spades. If your soil is rich, you don't have to dig it over, but killing all the weeds is still necessary.

Watch our video on how to plant a garden hedge for full details. The plants in this video are delivered pot-grown, but planting out bareroot stock is essentially the same.
Remember to water establishing plants during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Hedge Planting Accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass with Roundup weed killer.
You can buy a hedge planting pack with sheets of mulch fabric and pegs to hold it down.
You may need a bamboo cane to support your plants, but they do not need protection from rabbits or deer.
If your soil quality is poor, we recommend using mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of new trees and shrubs.
You can also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser and Growmore.

After you have planted your Laurel hedge, the most important thing to do is water it in dry weather. You will also need to weed around plants. Watering should be thorough, so the ground is soaked and you should then let it almost dry out before watering again.
Like all evergreen plants, Cherry laurel is active and needs moisture in the ground throughout the year. This means that if the weather is dry in the winter when they are planted, your establishing plants need to be watered.

Trimming Formal hedge plants: The Cherry Laurel we deliver is beautifully bushy, so it doesn't need any clipping at all in its first year. From the winter after planting onwards, your young hedge should be trimmed lightly once a year, until it is mature.
When it is fully grown, you can clip it at anytime. A good time to clip mature Cherry Laurel hedges is after they flower or after their berries ripen. If your hedge is planted in the full sun, it will grow fast enough to need trimming twice each year if you want to keep it really tidy. Mid-spring is a good time for the first clipping.
Common laurel responds very well to hard pruning.

Special notes on caring for Cherry Laurel hedges:
Cherry Laurel is a very tough hedge plant that shouldn't need special attention once it has established. If you didn't use a mulch fabric, it is beneficial to mulch around the base of the hedge each year with well rotted manure or compost.
Laurel leaves can be prone to laurel shot hole, which is a harmless fungal condition that makes ragged holes the foliage. A good airflow through the hedge and occasionally cleaning out dead leaves from underneath it should help to prevent shot hole. It is not necessary to use a fungicide on it.

Hygiene & Diseases:
Dead, damaged or diseased wood can be pruned off as soon as it appears.
Disinfect your pruning tools between every cut if there is any sign of disease.
Burn or dispose of any diseased material, do not compost it.
Clean up fallen leaves and other debris from underneath the hedge every year.

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 plants die within a year, we replace them if you have followed our instructions. You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.

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 March. 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 most bareroot plants is £9.49 + VAT.

If your order contains any standard sized trees, fruit trees or pot-grown plants, then the delivery charge is £12.55 + VAT in TOTAL.

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.