ladysage79
Newly Registered
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Jun 22, 2006 1:51 pm

Dwarf English Laurel

We have three dwarf english laurel shrubs in our front yard that are three years old (the landscapers put them in when we built the house) and they were about 4 feet tall and just beautiful last summer. At the first of the winter season they stayed green and then in January they turned totally brown, except for a few branches at the bottom. I didn't know what to do so I pruned off all the branches (in early May) with only about 6 inches of branches left sticking out of the ground. They are coming back like crazy and seem to be doing very well. We did this same thing the first winter we had them and the second winter they didn't turn brown and now this winter it did it again.

What is the deal with this shrub? Is it supposed to turn brown? Can I avoid it turning brown? If so, how? Am I supposed to prune it down every year?

Thanks! Any help or information about this would be greatly appreciated! :wink:

decam0
Senior Member
Posts: 142
Joined: Sat Jun 24, 2006 12:03 pm
Location: London, England

I presume your shrubs are evergreen?
Did they flower in their first year?
If so what were the flowers like?
Are your shrubs Laurus (bay), which is a little tender, or Prunus laurocerasus (cherry laurel), or lusitnica (portugese laurel) which are both fully hardy.
If it IS bay laurel then it needs protection from wind and frost in cold weather.
If it's one of the other hardier laurels, then I have no idea why they're turning brown. Cutting them back seems the only choice. At least they wont outgrow their space and will look fresh all the time.



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