Privacy screens made of wood or stone can quickly create a cramped atmosphere, especially in a small garden. Among the various plants that are commonly used for privacy hedges, the cherry laurel is considered to be particularly easy to care for and attractive.

Cherry laurel grows densely and is also evergreen

Many reasons speak for the cherry laurel

In addition to other popular hedge plants, the cherry laurel is valued primarily for its growth characteristics. On the one hand, it grows strong and bushy enough that after planting the young plants about 50 cm apart, a reasonably dense and high hedge is formed just a few years later. On the other hand, the growth is moderate enough that even with a height of more than 2 m, one pruning per year should be sufficient. The following properties characterize a privacy hedge made of cherry laurel:

  • Opaque after a few years at the location
  • Cherry laurel is evergreen
  • the deciduous tree usually does not shed its leaves even in winter (less leaves in the garden)
  • Depending on the variety, fragrant, white flowers are sometimes formed

Caution in locations with severe winter frosts

First of all, autumn planting should be avoided when planting cherry laurel. Only after planting in spring do the plants have enough time to root and then survive a cold winter unscathed. Severe winter frosts can be quite dangerous for some varieties of cherry laurel. However, planting the plants in a particularly sun-drenched location is by no means a solution to this problem. On the contrary: Strong fluctuations between day and night temperatures can damage the cherry laurel privacy hedge more than a location in the rather damp penumbra.

Properly cut the cherry laurel

Like other shrubs and hedge plants, a long and high cherry laurel hedge can also be cut with electric hedge trimmers (€24.99). Since the number of individual twigs and ramifications is limited in the cherry laurel, a targeted, manual pruning with pruning shears is also an option. This not only makes it easier to collect the cuttings, but also leaves are not cut in half, which would then turn unsightly brown on the plants.

tips

If the cherry laurel turns brown after a severe winter with many frosts and then sheds all the leaves, you should not remove the plants immediately. There is a certain chance that the bare cherry laurel will show new shoots again a few weeks later.

Category:

Garden design