A preferred broadleaf evergreen, bay laurel (Laurus nobilis) is well cultivated for his or her aromatic and flavorful leaves.
These bushes are additionally extremely versatile, including putting decorative worth in various varieties reminiscent of hedges, shrubs, bushes, or topiary specimens in each containers and backyard beds.
And a key aspect to creating wholesome, lush foliage, plus sustaining a manageable form and measurement, is annual pruning.
Reducing again bay, aka true or kitchen laurel, repeatedly creates dense branching with an abundance of leaves.
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This abundance makes them an impressive selection for clipping and sculpting into any form from crisp, boxy screens to summary or geometric requirements.
They may also be grown in a free type, both as a multi-stemmed shrub or solitary tree, resplendent with a lavish cover of chartreuse to darkish inexperienced leaves.
Once more, common upkeep is required to encourage dense foliage and to maintain their bold progress in verify.
Is your backyard prepared for lovely bay laurels with a lot of aromatic foliage? Then sharpen your shears and let’s get into how and when to prune bay laurel bushes!
Right here’s what you’ll discover forward:
Bay Tree Fundamentals
Bay bushes do finest in a sunny, protected location in humus wealthy, well-draining soil with a barely acidic to alkaline pH of 5.5 to 7.5.
They’re hardy in USDA Zones 7 to 11, and outdoors of their vary could be grown as container vegetation, however you’ll must overwinter them indoors or in a protected outbuilding like a greenhouse or orangery.
You may study extra about the best way to develop bay laurel in our information.
A preferred kitchen herb, the leaves are used dried or recent in a variety of savory dishes, making them a well-liked selection for kitchen and potager gardens.
And as engaging evergreens, their heavy branching and thick foliage makes L. nobilis a pure for formal or free hedges, screens, showy shrubs, standalone bushes, or formed as topiary.
Though progress isn’t quick, it’s regular. Mature bay laurel bushes can attain a powerful top of as much as 55 ft and nonetheless retain dense foliage – however sustaining a manageable measurement is well achieved by rising a compact selection and a few annual upkeep.
These resilient bushes reply eagerly to both a light-weight trim or strong pruning, and shortly fill out with a recent flush of summer season leaves.
They’ll even take a tough reduce, with the principle trunk severed if wanted – they’ll come again with new progress and produce one other verdant cover in only a few years!
However the way you prune your bay laurel bushes relies on the way you develop them.
Container vegetation, shrubs, and bushes have to be reduce to keep up a manageable measurement.
Hedges, screens, and topiaries are double reduce to supply a luxuriant wall of shiny, scented leaves for optimum decorative attraction.
And naturally, you need to have loads of leaves to reap for the kitchen as properly!
Okay, that’s the fundamentals… now let’s transfer on to the particulars of how and when to prune bay bushes.
Greatest Timing for Quick Regrowth
Bay bushes could be given a light-weight trim at any time of the yr, however one of the best time to prune is in late spring after new progress has emerged.
At the moment, loose-form container vegetation, shrubs, and bushes could be trimmed evenly to move again final yr’s progress.
Or in the event that they have to be resized or reshaped, that is additionally the time for a more durable reduce the place they are often decreased by as a lot as one-third of their total measurement.
Late spring can also be the time to start out shaping hedges, privateness screens, and topiary requirements with a light-weight trim to determine the specified define.
By summer season, kitchen laurels are rising far more vigorously and placing out loads of new progress.
That is when hedges and topiaries are given a second trimming to finish the specified form or give the plant a clipped look if desired.
Hedge and Topiary Shaping
To start out shaping hedges, screens, and topiaries and encourage branching, take away any winter broken leaves, and damaged or useless stems utilizing clear, sharp shears or a pruning noticed.
This Japanese-style folding pruning noticed from Garrett Wade is good. It’s sharp, sturdy, and folds into the deal with for compact storage.
Folding Pruning Noticed
In the reduction of broken leaves to the closest set of latest buds or set of wholesome leaves.
At this level, don’t fear an excessive amount of about unpleasant divots or dips left behind after eradicating cold-damaged leaves – the quick summer season progress shortly fills in any gaps.
Use clear, sharp shears to move again final yr’s progress, snipping stems simply above a set of wholesome buds or leaves.
Trim evenly or take away as a lot as one-third of the general measurement as desired.
You’ll want to complete shaping in summer season when the bushes are pushing out a lot of new progress.
To complete your hedge or topiary with a tender, leafy look, use hand shears to selectively reduce suggestions and stems, refining the form you began in spring.
In the event you desire a crisp, clipped look, use pruning shears or a hedge trimmer to chop again leaves and stems into sharp silhouettes.
Black and Decker Hedge Trimmer
One thing like this 16-inch hedge trimmer from Black and Decker, out there through Walmart makes quick work of shaping hedges and topiary.
With bay bushes, you possibly can reduce via the leaves with out concern about abandoning unpleasant brown edges – as soon as they heal, solely a slight grey scar stays on the reduce edge.
As summer season progresses and new foliage emerges, give your vegetation a light-weight trim to keep up stability and the specified form.
Suckers and Shoots
Eradicating suckers and shoots is critical for topiaries and bushes, or wherever you need to protect a single trunk with a clear, naked look.
Suckers emerge annually across the base of vegetation as new, tender stems. Shoots are the little child limbs that emerge from naked trunks.
For hedges, shrubs, and screens, suckers and shoots could be left in place as a result of they broaden the bottom into clumps and enhance the density of the foliage.
To take away suckers from bushes and topiary, scrape away soil from across the suckers then use clear, sharp shears to chop them beneath the soil stage.
The decrease you possibly can reduce them, the much less likelihood they’ve of surviving to sprout once more.
To take away shoots rising from naked trunks, use clear, sharp shears to snip them off as near the trunk as attainable.
Trimming Shrubs
As talked about, when shoots and suckers are left in place bay laurel varieties bushy clumps with a number of, densely foliated stems.
Over time, clumps prolong outward into new territory, including girth to their total measurement and creating pretty evergreen screens.
To handle the looks of your shrubs, begin by eradicating any winter-damaged leaves in addition to any damaged, crossing, or useless branches.
To take care of their measurement and form, reduce final yr’s progress to a set of wholesome buds or leaves, reducing again the information of every department by as much as one third of its size.
In case your shrub has unfold out an excessive amount of in your liking, you possibly can cut back its width by eradicating as much as one third of the stems from the outside perimeter, reducing at, or simply beneath the soil stage.
Heading Again Bushes
Though bay bushes can develop tall with out getting leggy or sparse, repeatedly heading again the branches helps to protect an interesting form and retains vegetation wholesome with vibrant foliage as properly.
“Heading again” is a pruning time period to explain the method of reducing the terminal stem of a department again to a bud. “Thinning” refers back to the full removing of a department the place it joins the principle stem.
To take care of the form of your tree, begin by eradicating any useless and broken limbs, and ones which are crossed or rising in direction of the middle of the cover.
Use clear, sharp hand pruners on small branches and loppers or a pointy noticed on bigger ones.
To cut back the dimensions of the specimen, head again the rising suggestions by as much as a 3rd of their whole size.
To reshape the profile, reduce the rising suggestions as desired and skinny out small limbs by reducing them off the place they emerge from a powerful facet department.
In the event you like your bushes to have a naked trunk, take away the brand new shoots that seem annually. Reduce as near the trunk as attainable.
Rejuvenate Overgrown Specimens
Mature, overgrown bay laurels may also tolerate a really laborious reduce and might even get better when the principle trunk is reduce off.
However regrowth is sluggish and reducing down the trunk leaves an unpleasant naked stump. As an alternative, plan to hold out a tough reduce over two or three seasons.
For a tough reduce, in late spring take away one-third of the general measurement in your first yr reduce.
Within the second yr, reduce by one other one-third, shaping as you go. Simply attempt to keep away from reducing away final yr’s progress and any new shoots on the decrease components of the plant – depart them in place in order that they produce foliage to cowl naked branches.
Within the third yr, head again the information of the earlier years’ progress, reducing them away at a powerful facet bud. Selectively skinny out any remaining branches in areas you’d like to cut back, eradicating secondary stems or smaller twigs on the junction the place they emerge from a powerful facet department.
Unfold out over two or three years, you possibly can considerably cut back the general measurement of your tree however nonetheless benefit from the lush foliage and harvest leaves as properly.
Harvesting Leaves
Talking of harvesting, bay leaves are scrumptious and used dried or recent in quite a lot of dishes!
They are often harvested at any time of the yr for recent use.
However the summer season months of June, July, and August are after they have the very best concentrations of fragrant important oils. In the event you plan to dry the leaves, use these collected in summer season for one of the best taste.
For the freshest, most intense flavors, leaves ought to be picked within the morning after the dew has evaporated and earlier than the new solar disperses their oils.
Be taught extra about the best way to harvest bay leaves in our information.
Positive Foliage
Sturdy and versatile vegetation grown for his or her flavorful leaves, bay laurel bushes additionally make extremely engaging foliage vegetation that may be grown in containers or as hedges, screens, shrubs, topiary, and bushes!
In the reduction of in late spring after new progress has emerged and provides hedges and topiary a second pruning in summer season to refine their form or to create a crisp profile.
For big, overgrown bushes, reduce them again over the course of some seasons so you possibly can nonetheless take pleasure in their fantastic foliage within the kitchen and backyard as you resize.
Any questions on the best way to prune bay laurel bushes? Ask away within the feedback part beneath.
And for extra details about rising bay laurel in your backyard, learn these guides subsequent:
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