Portugese Laurel (Pot Grown)

Portuguese laurel gives you everything people plant a laurel hedge for — dense evergreen screening, glossy foliage, easy growing — with a more refined finish. The finer, darker leaf clips into sharper lines, the red stems give the hedge a depth of colour no plain green hedge has, and established hedges carry slender spikes of white flowers in early summer that bees work hard.

It’s also the laurel for tougher gardens: hardier in cold winters than cherry laurel, and noticeably happier on thin, chalky or exposed sites where its bigger cousin can look yellow and sulky.

WHICH SIZE SHOULD I CHOOSE?

Smaller plants are the economical route for a long run — they establish quickly and grow 30–45cm a year once settled. Larger sizes give a worthwhile screen from the first season. Plant 3 per metre for sizes up to about 125cm, or 2 per metre for larger plants, and the hedge knits into a solid line within two to three seasons.

All heights are measured from the top of the pot to the top of the plant.

GROWING CONDITIONS

Sun or partial shade, in any reasonable soil including chalk — the one thing to avoid is waterlogging. One trim a year, in late spring or late summer, keeps a formal line; like cherry laurel it regrows well even from a hard cut into old wood.

PLANTING & AFTERCARE

Plant into a generous hole or trench with the base broken up and a handful of bone meal per plant, rootball level with the soil surface, firmed and watered in well. Water deeply once or twice a week through the first spring and summer, feed each spring, and trim slightly narrower at the top than the base so the hedge stays leafy to the ground. We stock the bone meal, compost and fertiliser to do the job properly — add them to your delivery.

GROWN AT NEWGATE

Grown on and hardened off outdoors at our nursery in Whitestake, Lancashire. Order online for UK-wide delivery quoted at checkout, or click and collect seven days a week — we grow both laurels side by side, so come and compare them in person.