Portuguese Laurel experts needed.

homeless9

Hi,

Bought a new house. The landscapers planted some Portuguese Laurel at the front of my house which are now about 2 to 3 feet high, but didn't plant anything to hedge off my rear garden.....They have planted the Portuguese Laurel about 30cm apart.

I have a small 2 or 3 metre section of garden where I'd like to put a row of Portuguese Laurel. I was wondering if, to save money, I could dig up some of the Portuguese Laurels that the landscapers planted at the front of the house. I have googled how much distance you should leave between each planted laurel bush and google said:

All types of laurel should be planted between 2 and 3 feet (60-90cm) apart. If you want a quick screen then plant your laurel hedging plants at 2ft apart but if you are willing to wait a bit longer, you will get just as dense a hedge by planting at 3ft apart.

So if I was to dig up every other Portuguese Laurel then they would be 60cm apart.

I was just wondering if any experts on here agree with google about 60cm being an ok gap to leave between each laurel bush. As the bushes are only 2-3 feet tall currently they aren't that spread out so if I take every other Laurel bush out then it's going to look a bit odd with gaps. If the 60cm gap is ok to leave and will be filled once the laurels have grown more, how long until those gaps are filled?

Also.....is it ok to dig a laurel bush out? is it going to be difficult, am I likely to kill it?

Davesnave

You will kill the bushes if you dig them up and re-plant at this time of year. November to March is a better time to move shrubs.

I plant my Portuguese laurel at 0.5m intervals. Anywhere between  0.45m - 0.6 m is correct.

Whether it's worth digging up some shrubs from the front is doubtful. You'll disturb the roots of the others. Small Portuguese laurel pot grown are about £3 each on the internet.

homeless9

I took the risk. Some websites say it's ok. Laurels are hardy. And shrubs less than 1 or 2 years old are said to be ok to move. Also watched a video of some guy on youtube transplanting one that looked more mature.

If they die - they die. Worth a try as this could save me a lot of money and time. Buying laurels already grown to the current height of these at 3 feet will be expensive considering I'd need a lot of them. And buying the smaller cheaper laurels would mean waiting 5 years until I have privacy in my garden.

If the Laurels I have transplanted die.....how long after moving them will I know they are dying? I guess the leaves will start going brown?

I have added compost, been watering them twice a day and added tree bark around the transplanted Laurels.

Davesnave

On your own head be it!

mufi

homeless9 said:
If the Laurels I have transplanted die.....how long after moving them will I know they are dying? I guess the leaves will start going brown?

The leaves go brown. This I know because last year our local council planted loads on some new-ish roundabouts, causing chaos by shutting off half the dual carriageway. During last year's hot spell I guess no one watered them and the leaves have gone brown; they are now extremely dead (not that one can have extremes of deadness).