skip laurel care
Doc S
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
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Doc S
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Skip Laurel Care
Comments (13)Almost two years ago I planted four 4'tall Skip Laurels. The one I planted on the westside along a privacy fence line and under the eastside of an oak tree is doing great and flowers nicely. I did hand water some potted trees, under that oak tree, almost daily during our drought all last summer. Such watering is most likely what provided enough moisture for that Laurel even though I did not concentrate on watering it as much as I focused on watering the potted trees. My other three Skip laurels were planted farther north along the same fence line and the ground sloped slightly for proper water drainage. The problem I encountered was that two of those got too much water from my neighbor's improperly draining backyard rain or yard watering runoff. All three continued to struggle that first season, but by the next Spring I clearly could see two of them were in trouble and needed to be raised. I actually raised all three of those which were planted slightly closer together. I had to baby all of those raised ones with hand watering almost every day, but the one with the worst root damage from previously sitting in too much water, prior to my raising them, still died. This last fall, I replace that one, and even though we have had a dry winter; I did not have to water it much, and it is doing fine. But still this spring those three do not look like they are going to bloom as nicely as the one farther up the fence line and is planted under my mature oak tree. Hopefully if this summer I baby the three elevated ones, they will get the chance to establish a better root system and finally catch up with the other one....See MoreAre 'Skip Laurel' and 'Cherry Laurel' the same thing?
Comments (2)Schipka laurel is a cultivar of cherry laurel. Cherry laurel = cow, Schipka laurel = Holstein....See MoreSkip Laurel Help needed!
Comments (49)As an experienced nursery person, horticulturist and garden designer, I have trouble imagining a more low maintenance, trouble-free shrub than laurels!! Any kind of English or cherry laurel, Prunus laurocerasus. Skip laurel is a just a laurel cultivar with slightly increased cold tolerance but otherwise no different than any other cultivar wrt growing conditions. In areas where they are fully hardy, they will grow in both full sun and heavy shade, will tolerate extended dry periods when established but will thrive with periodic deep soakings during those dry periods. In fact, they grow so well here, they are on the monitor list as a invasive species as birds eat the seeds and spread them throughout green belts and native forested areas. Very little bothers these shrubs - they can be subject to some deer browse and shothole disease but virtually never to the point that the plant fails or dies. They can even be grown successfully in heavy clay as long as they are planted correctly for the conditions. The only observation I can make about the previous posters' issues is that the plants' root system was compromised at time of planting, the rootball was not properly hydrated before planting or they were planted incorrectly. With properly draining soil conditions, it is pretty darn hard to overwater these!! These are such easy care, low maintenance shrubs, they are used extensively in institutional or commercial plantings that receive virtually NO aftercare....See MoreSkip laurel, cherry laurel or wax myrtle for Zone 7a hedging?
Comments (10)You didn't say how high your hedge needs to be. Are deer a problem? How's the drainage? No for Prunus caroliniana. It is a tree and can get damaged in winter. But there may be other Prunus such as Skip laurel, provided they get enough moisture. It can get 8 to 15 feet. Prunus laurocerasus 'Otto Luyken' works for many years. Doesn't get much over 4 or 5 feet. But can eventually get white scale and die out. Euonymus is great provided your area is fenced from deer. Golden euonymus, Silver King euonymus, etc. Wax myrtle may work, but can defoliate in really cold winters. Also, snow loads can break them up, which is discouraging, but deer don't like them. You might consider Viburnum pragense. It's a bit course, but with shaping looks fairly good. Takes regular maintenance. Stays evergreen. It's tough and deer don't care for it. Leaves droop in coldest weather. Then there are all the hollies, such as I cornuta 'Burford', 'Needlepoint', 'Carissa', I. cornuta Rotundifolia, Ilex crenata and all it's cultivars, the Blue hollies and all their cultivars....See Moreken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
7 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoHU-297596717
3 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 years agoHU-148692852
2 years agoEmbothrium
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoHU-148692852
2 years agoEmbothrium
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