Planting bay trees

[GaryMo]

Would it be OK to purchase a couple of bay trees and plant them in the garden at this time of year?
If so, how would you recommend I prepare the area for them?
I'm intending them to go within a large border.

Thanks all.

 

[merlin50]

yes plant it now

Your bay tree should be sited in a sheltered area in full, or part sun. It can tolerate most soils, as long as it is well drained. Dig a deep hole 1m wide and deep and half-fill back with soil and organic matter such as well-rotted animal manure or compost. Place the tree in the soil so it stands straight. Check the original soil mark on the trunk and ensure the tree is sitting to the same depth. Fill the hole back with soil and firm the soil around the trunk with your feet. Water well.

Bay trees can grow up to 12m (40ft) if left to grow unchecked, so you’ll need to prune your tree each year if you grow it outside. Pruning bay trees is easy – they can be kept to any height and width if pruned regularly. Use secateurs to simply snip the excess foliage away to form a circular shape. Bay trees have very shallow root systems. This means in very dry conditions you may need to water your tree but otherwise the bay requires little attention. Also be careful when weeding around the area as you could damage the root structure.

 

[GaryMo]

What effect will frost and the cold months over winter have on bay trees?
Are they pretty resilient or will I need to take any extra precautions with them?
Also, I picked up quite a bargain from B&Q - two bay trees which should have been £50 each but marked at half price. Add to that a 15% off voucher which I had meant I got them for around £21.25 each.

 

[studips]

cold is fine, cold wind will brown the leaf tips and then the whole leaf and eventually can cause die back - is it a bush or standard (if the weather kills the stem of a mop head then that's it.

it's an evergreen so will use some water all year round. choose the spot carefully and if it has soft green leaves as opposed to more mature dark green ones you can assume it has come from somewhere hot and will not appreciate our winter - provide shelter to get it through it's first winter undamaged if you can.

oh, and buy some feed like vitax for use next year.

good luck

 

[malvernian]

Having been a pro' gardener for many years, I would say that if you do plant out those bay trees at this time of year their biggest enemy will be cold winds. I would suggest covering them with some form of wind/frost protection such as fleece. If you don't, then you may well have wasted your money when spring comes around and all you have is a tree with crispy brown leaves

 

[GaryMo]

Thanks again.

Would something like this be suitable? The bay trees are currently around 1.1 meters tall.

http://www.olivegrovenurseries.co.u...leece-cover-lily/fleece-cover-lily-small.html

 

[JohnD]

in my garden, bay trees grow like weeds. I have to pull them up and burn them. I imagine that birds drop seeds around. Probably you will get the same. I suppose you could pot up the seedlings until they are grown enough to sell them for £50.

my favourite one is in front of the house, I sawed it off at 6ft, and I trim the green top into a lollipop globe a few times a year. It tends to sucker from the base, these will grow back unless you follow them to the source and knife it off. Or if you use weedkiller (on the leaves of the sucker only) that seems to stop regrowth. You might think it will damage the tree, but it doesn't

It smells nice.

 

[studips]

Thanks again.

Would something like this be suitable? The bay trees are currently around 1.1 meters tall.

http://www.olivegrovenurseries.co.u...ver-lily/fleece-cover-lily-small.html[/QUOTE]

Gardman supply most garden centres with pacekts of horticultural fleece, if you can fight your way throught he christmas department, they will have packets of fleece (spunbonded polypropylene) like the farmers use to advance or protect crops. it lets the plants breath, creates a little microclimate and keeps the wind off. you need to tent it so wet fleece does not lay on foliage and freeze. that brown stuff would i'd imagine cut light levels right down so is not ideal for an evergreen.

if they are clipped and full at 1.1m, then bamboo canes make a cheap wigwam

 

[johnheritage]

We've got one in the front garden.

Once it's up, it's a tough mother alright!

They can get pretty big, but aren't major trimming problems.

Also, the leaves can go in the dinner to make it taste more interesting.

Bay is Laurus Nobilis and was used by the Romans (and others) to make crowns for outstanding pro's of the day.