The Benefits of Planting Laurel Hedging

Laurel hedging benefits

If you’re looking for a hedge that’s easy to care for and even easier to grow, you should consider planting common laurel (also known as cherry laurel or English laurel.) As an attractive non-coniferous and evergreen topiary, laurel is incredibly practical when compared to other hedge species.

Here are a few reasons why you should go with laurel when you’re thinking of levelling up your landscaping.

1. Hardiness: Being a resilient topiary that can tolerate being planted in either heavy clay or chalky ground, laurel prefers and will thrive in well-drained and evenly moist soil. Amazingly, the PH of your soil isn’t a big factor for this topiary, as laurel will flourish in both alkaline and acidic mediums. A popular plant for smoggy and urban areas, laurel is also tolerant of salty air and will grow near the ocean. It is one of the few plants that will survive and retain its beauty in both full sun and full shade environments.

2. Beauty: Its brilliantly coloured and glossy leaves come in shades of dark green, light green, and variegated greens. The laurel stays evergreen year round and will continue to propagate full and gorgeous leaves. During the summers it will produce attractive and fragrant flowers. Because the laurel is so hardy, it rarely suffers from those dreaded brown dead patches that coniferous hedges are so famous for.

3. Usefulness: If you’re wanting to create some privacy for your yard, laurel is much more attractive than a fence. Growing at a speed of up to two feet per year, it makes for a beautiful and dense living wall that also serves to keep control over invasive brambles and nuisance bracken. The thickness of its leaves also serves to dampen sounds from traffic and the street while providing an effective windbreak. As well as being useful for homeowners, the laurel plant is also useful for birds. The thickness of the hedge makes it an ideal place for bird nests. So, in addition to beautiful leaves and aromatic flowers, the laurel also provides you with music of the songbirds that enjoy living within its protective branches.

4. Practicality: One trim a year should be enough to keep your laurel in check. Even if you go years without trimming your laurel hedge, you can cut it all the way down to ground level and it will still re-sprout and grow back. The laurel plant dares even the most inexperienced of gardeners to damage it. Laurel is one of the least expensive and fastest growing hedges, making it the quickest and cheapest option when deciding to grow a hedge wall. If left untamed it can reach heights of twenty feet. Of course, you can also keep it trimmed to a smaller series of hedges or train its shape into a tree if you prefer. Or you could get creative and be “that person” in your neighbourhood by trimming it into various shapes such as animals and cartoon characters.

 

Since bare-root laurel and potted laurel so easy to grow, you’ll have no trouble tricking your friends and neighbours into believing in your green thumb. With all of the benefits of planting laurel in your garden, the hardest decision you’ll have to make is which colour of leaf you prefer.