Cherry laurel: when and how to prune

Cherry laurel: when to prune it?

JFMAMJJASOND

The main prune comes straight after flowering, in May–June. Remove the faded flower spikes at the same time: without berries, birds cannot spread the shrub.

If the hedge grows fast, a second, lighter trim is possible in late August or September. No later: the young shoots still need to harden off.

Prune in dry weather: in wet weather, fungi such as shot hole disease get into the wounds more easily.

What else to prune in those months? May · June · August · September

Cherry laurel: how to prune it?

1. Use secateurs rather than a hedge trimmer. Leaves cut in half by a hedge trimmer turn an ugly brown along the cut edge and stay visible for months.
2. Cut each overlong shoot back separately, just above a leaf or bud and a little way inside the hedge: the cuts will barely show.
3. Remove all the faded flower spikes as you go. If you later still spot green or black berries, cut them off before the birds find them.
4. Keep the top of the hedge slightly narrower than the base, so the bottom gets light and stays dense.
5. Wear gloves and only shred prunings outdoors, never in a garage or shed: the leaves and seeds contain substances that release hydrogen cyanide when crushed.
6. Take prunings to the recycling centre or put them in the green waste bin. Never dump them in woodland or a field, and keep them away from chickens, horses and other livestock.

How much to cut, and how often?

• One prune a year after flowering is enough for an ordinary hedge; trim a formal hedge a second time in August–September.
• Left to grow freely, a cherry laurel becomes 4–5 m wide. To make it smaller, cut it back hard in one go after flowering, right into the old wood: it will regrow.
• If you want to get rid of the hedge, cut the shrubs down and dig out the stumps. If that isn’t possible, cut off every new shoot as soon as it appears, until the stump is exhausted.

What does it mean for wildlife?

• A dense cherry laurel hedge is a nesting site for blackbirds, woodpigeons and dunnocks. The May–June prune falls right in the nesting season (15 March–15 August): check first and leave a wide area around an active nest, as disturbing it is against the law.
• Honeybees and bumblebees visit the white flower spikes in April–May, and the small glands at the base of the leaves attract ants with nectar. But spikes left after flowering produce berries, which blackbirds carry deep into the woods.
• Once it escapes, cherry laurel forms a dense, dark understorey in woodland, under which almost nothing else grows. Pull up seedlings in your garden, under trees and in hedgerows while they are young, roots and all.
• A mixed hedge of native species is worth far more: holly and yew stay green in winter, hornbeam and beech keep their brown leaves until spring, and wild privet and hawthorn flower for bees and bear berries for birds. Plant the new hedge alongside the old one and only remove the cherry laurel once it has filled in.

Common mistakes

• Using a hedge trimmer, so the hedge is covered in brown half-leaves.
• Leaving the faded flower spikes, so berries form that birds sow in the woods.
• Dumping prunings in or at the edge of woodland, or near chickens, horses and other livestock.
• Shredding indoors or in an enclosed space, where the hydrogen cyanide from the crushed leaves builds up.
• Planting new cherry laurel, when a native hedge gives just as much shelter and brings far more life to the garden.

Nearby: related pruning guides

• Portugal laurel
• Holly
• Yew
• Privet
• Hornbeam

Similar to: Difference from bay laurel · Difference from spotted laurel · Difference from camellia · Difference from photinia · Difference from holly · Difference from oleaster · Difference from leatherleaf viburnum · Difference from rhododendron · Difference from Japanese skimmia

Plant profile: Cherry laurel · Pruning calendar and basic rules