Prunus lusitanica 'Etna' – Portuguese Laurel 'Etna'
A compact, glossy evergreen with a fiery flush of bronze new growth – perfect for hedges, screens and smart clipped shapes.
Prunus 'Etna' is a neater, denser form of the ever-reliable Portuguese laurel. It keeps all the toughness and polish of the original but adds a tidier habit and a striking burst of coppery-red young leaves each spring – the volcanic glow that earns it its name. If you want an easy evergreen that looks a cut above cherry laurel and copes with almost any garden, this is a very good place to start.
At a glance
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Plant type | Evergreen shrub |
| Foliage | Glossy dark green leaves on red stalks; new growth bronze-red |
| Flowers | Small, sweetly scented white flowers in slender sprays, early summer |
| Fruit | Small berries, red ripening to purple-black, late summer into autumn |
| Eventual size | Around 3–4 m tall and wide if left alone; easily kept at 1–2.5 m |
| Growth rate | Moderate, roughly 20–40 cm a year |
| Hardiness | Very hardy (RHS H5) – copes with around −15°C |
| Position | Full sun or partial shade, sheltered or exposed |
| Soil | Any reasonable, well-drained soil, including chalk and clay |
| Best for | Hedging, screening, topiary, containers, wildlife |
Why you'll love it
Colour all year round. The leaves are a rich, polished dark green that looks good in every season, and each spring the new shoots emerge a warm bronze-red before deepening to green. Even the leaf stalks and young stems are tinged red, giving the whole plant a subtle warmth that plain green hedging lacks.
Naturally tidy. 'Etna' is more compact and bushier than ordinary Portuguese laurel, with leaves held close together along the stem. That means a denser hedge, fewer gaps and less effort keeping it looking smart.
Flowers and berries too. In early summer it carries slender sprays of small white flowers with a light, sweet scent that bees and hoverflies adore. These are followed by small red berries that ripen almost black by autumn – a welcome meal for blackbirds and thrushes.
Tough as old boots. It shrugs off cold winters, wind, coastal air, urban pollution and dry spells once established, and it is far happier than cherry laurel on thin, chalky soil.
Where to plant it
'Etna' is refreshingly unfussy. It grows in full sun or partial shade, though the new growth colours best with a few hours of direct sun each day. Almost any soil will do – clay, chalk, sand or loam, acid or alkaline – as long as it doesn't sit waterlogged over winter. It handles exposed, windy sites well, making it a sound choice for a boundary hedge.
Ways to use it
- Hedging and screening – the classic use. Plant 45–60 cm apart for a dense hedge that sits happily anywhere between 1 and 3 metres tall, giving privacy and shelter all year.
- Clipped shapes and topiary – the small leaves and dense habit take clipping beautifully, so it can be shaped into balls, cones, pillars or a lollipop-headed standard.
- A specimen shrub – left to grow naturally it forms a handsome, rounded evergreen for a border or lawn.
- Containers – young plants and standards look smart in large pots either side of a doorway. Use a loam-based compost such as John Innes No. 3 and don't let it dry out.
Planting
Container-grown plants can go in at any time of year, but autumn and spring are ideal, when the soil is moist and roots settle quickly. Avoid planting into frozen or waterlogged ground.
- Dig a hole about twice as wide as the pot and no deeper.
- Mix a little garden compost or well-rotted manure into the soil you have dug out.
- Plant at the same depth as in the pot, firm gently and water thoroughly.
- Mulch around the base with bark or compost to hold in moisture and keep weeds down.
For a hedge, digging a trench along the whole run is quicker than individual holes.
Care and pruning
Watering. Water regularly through the first year or two, especially in dry spells. After that it will largely look after itself.
Feeding. A mulch of compost in spring, with a sprinkle of general-purpose fertiliser, is all it needs.
Pruning. Trim hedges and shapes once or twice a year – late spring or early summer after flowering, with a light tidy in late summer if needed. Hand shears or a hedge trimmer are both fine; the leaves are small enough that cut edges don't turn scruffy the way cherry laurel's can. Avoid cutting after early autumn so soft new growth isn't caught by frost. An overgrown plant responds well to hard pruning in spring.
Problems. Generally trouble-free. Yellowing leaves are usually a sign of waterlogged soil rather than pests or disease.
Good to know
- As with all laurels, the leaves and berries are not for eating, so keep an eye on inquisitive pets and small children.
- If you're choosing between laurels, Portuguese laurel is the better bet on shallow chalk, in cold or windy gardens, and anywhere you want a more refined finish than cherry laurel.
Buying Shrubs from Jacksons Nurseries
At Jacksons Nurseries we sell a variety of shrubs both evergreen and deciduous with a variety of flowering times throughout the year. At certain times of the year our shrubs you buy from us may not look like the images shown on our website when deciduous leaves have fallen, the shrub has finished flowering or has been trimmed back.
Some leaves on evergreen shrubs can be damaged in winter by frost or harsh winds but in spring new leaves will readily replace those damaged. This is quite normal on many evergreen varieties and is preferable to plants grown with excessive protection that show cold shock once planted out and establish less satisfactory initially.
Availability: Stock availability figures are provided as a guide only. There is a delay between orders being placed and the plants being gathered by our pulling team. During this time it may be possible for a member of the public to purchase these plants from our Garden Centre, while this is rare it is a possibility and we will notify you of any problems as soon as possible. This figure may also include plants that have not yet be flagged as unsaleable.
Pre-order: Pre-order times are given as a guide only and may vary dependent on the growing season. Orders containing Pre-ordered products will be shipped as a single order when all items become available. Large orders may be part shipped, please contact us on 01782 502741 or email sales@jacksonsnurseries.co.uk.
* Please Note: Shrubs in 20 litre pots and above might require a pallet delivery starting at £79.99 per pallet. Depending on the exact pot size and height it may be possible to get approximately 5 plants per pallet at no extra cost. The maximum height we can dispatch on a pallet is 2.0m, this includes the height of the pallet and pot.
Shrubs are deciduous or evergreen woody plants, and often provide fragrant flowers, berries and foliage. They are good for structural framework, and they can provide a wonderful shelter and food source for wildlife.
Planting and Conditions
Container grown shrubs can be grown at any time of year. It is a little known fact that shrubs planted in the autumn and winter will be easier to look after than those planted in the spring and summer, because they will have time to establish and become hardy in the cooler months.
Plant the shrub at the same depth as it was in its original pot. Planting too deeply can result in root and stem rot.
One of the biggest causes of death in new shrubs is drought stress, so keep it well watered until it’s established.
Make sure you loosen the soil prior to planting. Most shrubs are tolerant of most soil types as long as it is fairly well draining.
Most shrubs will grow happily in containers, but they will be much more demanding on feeding and watering than shrubs in the ground would be. They will also need potting on every couple of years so that they don’t suffocate or become stunted in their pot.
Aftercare and Pruning
Once established, shrubs generally do not require much water. However, at first they need careful, frequent watering and should not be left to dry out.
Shrubs in the ground are generally not demanding and in most cases, annual feeding with general purpose fertilizer will suffice. Shrubs in containers may need more feeding; usually from early spring until late summer.
Shrubs also benefit from mulching in order to supress weeds, conserve moisture and provide vital nutrients. Mulch also greatly improves soil conditions. Shrubs can be mulched in late winter, after fertiliser has been applied, but it can be mulched through autumn to late spring as long as the ground is damp.
All shrubs benefit from dead-heading once spent flowers become apparent. Rhododendrons and Lilac especially benefit from the removal of dead flowers.
Some shrubs may show signs of reverted growth or ‘sporting’. This is where random shoots of different leaves associated with the plant’s parentage begin to appear. Most commonly this is where plants with variegated leaves sprout pure green growths instead of variegated ones.
To control reversion, remove reverted shoots promptly to discourage them. Reverted shoots are usually much more vigorous than the variegated ones, and thus should be completely pruned out and cut back into wood containing variegated foliage.
Potential Issues
Although shrubs are usually very robust garden plants, they can sometimes start to decline with no apparent or obvious reason.
This will start with browning leaves, which could indicate plant stress due to lack of water or waterlogging, an establishment failure or, in the worst case scenario, honey fungus. Another cause of leaf browning is a high salt content in the soil. This could be a natural occurrence, especially if you live near the ocean, or it could be from over fertilisation.
To remedy a high salt content, cut back on fertiliser and step up your watering regime for the next few weeks. If you live by the ocean, this will be harder to remedy—but stepping up your watering will help to wash some of the salt away all the same.
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