Scientific name: Prunus laurocerasus
Family: ROSACEAE
Common names: “cherry laurel” “English laurel” “Versailles laurel”
“common laurel”
Plant Type: Evergreen shrub
Conditions:
Zone: 6-8
Light: Full sun – light shade
Exposure: Exposed
Soil: Moderately fertile – poor soil, becomes chlorotic in poorer soils
Moisture: Even moisture, but can handle less, drought resistant
Aesthetic:
Plant Size: 25′-30′ H & W vigorous
Leaf and Stem shape: Handsome, glossy dark green leaves
Flower: Small white flowers in erect racemes, followed by cherry-like glossy red fruits soon turning black
Pruning: Requires constant heading back cuts to densify the shrub after a major renovation, will not look pretty for a while, handles aggressive pruning
Maintenance: High, large hedges require chainsaw with some branches too big for a hedgetrimmer, will require regular pruning if growing next to a road or pathway
Landscape use: Can be used nicely as hedges with doorways in them, windbreak, screening hedge, low maintenance hedge in the right place
Propagate: By cuttings
Pests & Disease: Susceptible to shot hole, a disease complex that produces buckshot holes in the leaves, scale insects
Comments: “Nobody in their right mind plants these” , beginning to show up on invasive lists
Cultivars: 2 ~AGM winning varieties: P. l. ‘Rotundifolia’ & P. l. ‘Otto Luyken’ – compact at H3’W4′ with darker green more narrow leaves
P. l. ‘Zabeliana’ – low and wide spreading at H3’W8′
P. l. ‘Mt Vernon’ – H 12″-15″ x W 5′-10′ – dwarf form, slow growing
