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Skip laurel growth rate and spacing?

Heruga (7a Northern NJ)

last month

This is for prunus laurocerasus 'Schipkaensis'. I've been searching for the regular species but no where seems to carry that anymore but they seem to have the schikpaensis cultivar. Anyway there seems to be varying info on the web about this cultivar regarding growth rate. Some say slower than the species cherry laurel and some say the same. I know they are narrower but from what I researched you should still space them 5 ft apart? I am helping out my neighbor(for our privacy) who wants a fast evergreen hedge that is not a green giant or bamboo. Does anyone have experience with how fast this cultivar really grows? We only need like 15 ft of height for our privacy so I'm hoping it won't take 10+ years for it to achieve that.

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Comments (6)

41 North (Zone 7a/b, NE, coastal)
last month
last modified: last month
Too massive for where I put them, they are FAST IN NJ, and 5 feet is still too close in my opinion. I like them but need a landscaper just for them. They are completely winter hardy and DEER PROOF, heat tolerant, etc. Nice cultivar, reason they are popular. They do attract bees when in flower but so do my Magnolias and I like honeybees. They do form a dense wall here for privacy.
Heruga (7a Northern NJ)
Original Author
last month
Great to hear! Just what we needed as deer are a problem for my neighbor. Just clarifying though this is for ’Schipkaensis’ and not the species cherry laurel right?
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Once established, yes quite fast. Personally, I would start at 5' and maybe even space out further than that. Even with that spacing, you will have a hedge-like effect in time, even if left unpruned. And remember that spread is front and back, as well as to the sides - leave enough space so they are not fighting with the fence behind or rapidly overshadowing the plants in front. Some pruning to keep these in bounds may be in your future ;-) And I'd get more feedback from others in your area about the advisability of using antidessicants.......the general consensus is they are rather worthless for winter protection. I can't say for sure as I have never used (or ever needed to) but the topic used to come up rather frequently here.
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Larry - BLE is Broad Leaved Evergreen. In the States the word 'evergreen' appears to be generally used for conifers so they distinguish between them and other evergreens. This is partly, I imagine, because in many areas BLEs are not very common being generally less hardy than conifers. I had to learn this term on these forums since it isn't really used much over here. There are so many BLEs here and they are so much more popular in gardens than conifers, that 'evergreen' covers them.
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41 North (Zone 7a/b, NE, coastal)
last month
last modified: last month
That is the same cultivar that I have, but it is the same species as common Cherry Laurel. It's just a genetic variant of the species. Deer won't touch them, poisonous due to the cyanide. Animals are not stupid and are fine, kids", who knows.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last month
" Deer won't touch them, poisonous due to the cyanide. "

I hate to tell you but that's not true. It may not be a staple part of their diet but deer routinely nibble on them here, specially in spring when they begin to push tender new growth. A LOT of plants contain cyanogenic glycosides but almost exclusively in the seeds or pits - all Prunus species, most stone fruits (apples peaches, apricots, almonds), hawthorns, nandina, daphne, amelanchier and photinia to name a few common selections.. Deer can and will nibble or consume all of these - leaves and fruits - and happily live to tell the tale to their friends and neighbors..
41 North (Zone 7a/b, NE, coastal)
last month
last modified: last month
They have NEVER TOUCHED mine here in NJ, too much else to eat. I live with herds of deer, yearlong. In any event, Cherry Laurel growth is so exuberant, it will not matter in the least. I would PAY the deer to eat mine in NJ at this point! Not sure I would have planted them, in fact, if I had known how successful they would be in wanting to be HUGE, in a hurry. Still, visitors always ask me what they are as they are an impenetrable, dense, living green, property border.
Heruga (7a Northern NJ)
Original Author
29 days ago
Ok, I didn't know if that cultivar grew as fast because Monrovia says 6-10 ft tall in 10 years and thats less than a foot of growth a year.

In the town I live in deer don't touch them even in the winter, I see them eating bare deciduous branches but not cherry laurel. But in the town I grew up in as a kid just 10 minutes away the cherry laurels in some residences bottom half is all bare and chewed up

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