Laurel bushes

Gra76

Afternoon all,

We had our garden done last September and one of the things we asked them to do was to plant laurel bushes along a side of the garden to eventually hide a row of concrete garages which form the boundary to that side. They are roughly 3 to 4 ft high and were planted approx 2ft apart.

Since they were planted they've not grown (as far as I can tell looking at the photos I took at the time) and many of the leaves have holes in them now where it looks like something has been munching on them.

I suppose my main questions are:

1 - How long is it likely to be until they start to grow? From what I've read online the bushes have growing seasons and we're not far from the start of that this year. Maybe we planted them too late last year to catch the growing season?
2 - How do I get them to spread out width-wise as at the moment they're very 'spindly' and not really hiding very much at all.
3 - Any idea what's been munching on the leaves and how I stop it happening?

I know very little about gardening so I spoke to someone at work and they said it could be a couple of years before they're properly settled and that they won't grow much before they've had time to settle? They also said I shouldn't do anything to prune them until they start to grow properly - ie a couple of years down the line. Does this sound right or not? I'm no gardener so any advice is very welcome! Thanks in advance!

Davesnave

The advice is pretty sound. Bushes put in last September will take time to settle in and grow a full root structure; a process which would be slow in the winter months. Your plants were large and would have received quite a shock on being relocated. Large isn't always quicker in the long run.

You should be seeing some signs of growth now on shoot tips, but most of the growth will still be below soil level.

Sometimes, non-established laurel sheds its leaves around now. Some of mine in pots are doing that, possibly because they became dry, but new growth will soon replace lost leaves. For this reason, any damage to the leaves isn't a major concern.

Laurel leaves are poisonous, so I'm not sure what might be eating yours.

lardlikesdogs

Shot hole , Alot of laurels have it don't worry about it.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=568

lardlikesdogs

And they will take a few years to start filling out, My hedge took 6 years to get how I wanted it. Just leave it alone for a few years ( water if we have a very dry spell.)

Gra76

lardlikesdogs wrote: »

Shot hole , Alot of laurels have it don't worry about it.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=568

Thanks! That looks exactly like it! I'll stop worrying!

I guess I'll leave them to their own devices for a few years and see how they grow! Patience isn't one of my strong points but I don't have a choice with these then. Thanks for the advice! :cool: