Trimming a laurel hedge
Trim a laurel hedge once or twice a year. If you keep on top of it, the job never takes long.
Do it between late spring and late summer, on a dry day, and stop by September so new growth can harden before winter. Cut the hedge a little narrower at the top than at the base. More light then reaches the lower branches and the hedge stays leafy to the ground.
On big-leaved cherry laurel, secateurs or hand shears give the neatest result because you cut stems instead of leaves. A hedge trimmer is far quicker on a long hedge. The sliced leaves go brown at the edges, but new growth hides them within a few weeks.
Check for nesting birds before you start. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 it’s an offence to damage or destroy an active nest, and the main nesting season runs from March to August.
Cutting back an overgrown laurel hedge
Cherry laurel and Portuguese laurel both regrow well from old wood, so even a badly overgrown hedge can be rescued. Do hard pruning in early spring, around March, just before the main flush of growth, and the hedge will recover quickly.
For a very overgrown hedge, spread the work over two years: cut back the top and one side in the first spring, then the other side the following year. Water and feed well afterwards to support the new growth. Bay is slower to recover, so reduce it more gradually.
Watering
New hedges need regular watering through their first two summers, particularly anything planted between March and October. Water deeply and less often rather than a little every day. Established laurel hedges are drought tolerant and rarely need watering except in a long dry spell.
Feeding and mulching
Scatter a general-purpose granular fertiliser along the base of the hedge in spring, then top up a 5cm layer of bark mulch, keeping it off the stems. Mulch keeps moisture in and weeds down, and it slowly improves the soil as it rots.
Common laurel problems
Yellowing leaves usually point to waterlogging, drought or hungry soil. Check the drainage, water in dry spells and feed in spring.
Brown leaf edges are normally where a hedge trimmer has cut through the leaves, or scorch from frost and cold wind. New growth soon covers them.
Small round holes in cherry laurel leaves are shothole. It looks worse than it is. Clear up fallen leaves and keep the plant growing strongly.
A white powdery coating is powdery mildew, which is worse in dry, crowded spots.
If the hedge has gone bare at the bottom, the lower branches aren’t getting enough light. Trim the top narrower than the base.
Each laurel has a few problems of its own, covered in the guides to cherry laurel, Portuguese laurel and bay laurel.