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Dead laurel

There’s an old hedge at the front mainly made up of laurel, spotted laurel and a somewhat straggly snowberry, all very much intertwined. The hedge was probably planted in the mid 1960s, so very well established.

The hot spell has left some of the laurel looking as though is been burned.  I’ve cut out some of the dead branches and have come to the conclusion that the spotted laurel is ok.  I’ll continue to cut out the dead bits, but suspect that when I have done that I will discover that the ordinary laurel bushes are completely dead.

I can cut thé laurel right down to the ground but there’s no way I can dig the roots out. Is cutting them right down going to cause any other problems?  Can I leave the roots and plant something else more or less on top? If so what? The hedge is on the west boundary of a south facing garden, it gets a lot of sun and dries out even in normal summer weather.  Clay soil, pretty well neutral.

i don’t want to spend a lot of money - theoretically that hedge is the management company’s responsibility but they won’t do anything about it, so it’s down to me with maybe some help from the neighbours.

Comments

  • Katiehound
    Katiehound Posts: 8,072 Forumite
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    Cheapest things would be bare rooted stock in autumn.
    I rather like escallonia as it is small leafed evergreen & has flowers which insects love

    there's also griselinia. large leaves, comes in variegated which is handsome. Fairly tough. Could grow from cuttings
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  • Brie
    Brie Posts: 13,477 Ambassador
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    edited 23 August 2023 pm31 12:57PM
    We had a cluster of laurel trees die back but within months there was much more growth from the roots.  This was so vigorous I'd be tempted to call it invasive!!!  I'd cut things back as far as it's dead and then leave it to see what happens. If you want something different you might try planting in some honeysuckle or clematis or some other pretty vines that could twine their way along the whole hedge.
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  • bouicca21
    bouicca21 Posts: 6,644 Forumite
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    Thanks both.  Escallonia is a definite possibility, as there is a very happy one elsewhere in the garden.  If there is a chance that the laurel will come back from the roots, I’ll take it.  Further along there is the stump of a once lovely horse chestnut and that is throwing out healthy new shoots with no signs of disease, so maybe the laurel will too.
  • twopenny
    twopenny Posts: 6,844 Forumite
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    See what you've got at the end of the dead branches.
    Also gently scrape off the bark close to the stem and the main stem itself and see if it's green u underneath which will tell you if it's still alive or not

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  • FreeBear
    FreeBear Posts: 17,296 Forumite
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    Brie said: We had a cluster of laurel trees die back but within months there was much more growth from the roots.  This was so vigorous I'd be tempted to call it invasive!!!
    I had a laurel out front that I pruned at ground level a couple of times think that it would die. Darned thing kept sprouting up from the roots.... Finally managed to get rid of it when i had a minidigger in to do some "landscaping". Dug out the roots, and bunged them on a bonfire.

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  • Dustyevsky
    Dustyevsky Posts: 2,181 Forumite
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    You will find the laurel returns, vampire like, from the grave. Round my way, the Forestry Commission spend money  drilling out the cut trunks of it and rhododendron, and then inserting glyphosate plugs, all quite often to no avail!
    Whatever you plant is likely to have stiff competition.
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  • bouicca21
    bouicca21 Posts: 6,644 Forumite
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    I shall be very happy if it regenerates itself - it’s by far the best solution.  So I’ll just cut out the dead bits and wait.  
  • Farway
    Farway Posts: 14,170 Forumite
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    bouicca21 said:
    I shall be very happy if it regenerates itself - it’s by far the best solution.  So I’ll just cut out the dead bits and wait.  
    Solves a lot of garden problems :)

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