Prunus laurocerasus 'Rotundifolia' (Cherry Laurel)
Award-winning evergreen hedging plant
Overview
The Cherry Laurel 'Rotundifolia' is a magnificent evergreen shrub that combines beauty, practicality, and ease of care. Better known as the Cherry Laurel, this dense evergreen shrub makes a popular hedging plant and has earned recognition from the Royal Horticultural Society with an Award of Garden Merit (AGM). This robust variety is perfect for creating privacy screens, formal hedges, or as a striking specimen plant in mixed borders.
Key Features
-
Evergreen foliage: Large glossy, rounded leaves that maintain their rich, dark green colour throughout the year
-
Spring flowers: Elegant creamy white flower spikes in Spring that are delightfully fragrant
-
Wildlife friendly: The fragrant blooms are a magnet for pollinating insects
-
Attractive berries: Glossy cherry-red berries follow the flowers, providing autumn interest
-
Fast growing: Can grow up to 60cm per year
-
RHS Award winner: Recognised for its exceptional garden performance
Size and Growth
-
Mature height: 4m x 8m if left unpruned
-
Hedge height: Can be maintained as a hedge of 1-5m in height
-
Growth rate: Fast-growing, making it ideal for establishing hedges quickly
-
Spacing: Place the base of each stem at least 32 inches (80 cm) to 3 feet (1 meter) apart when planting as a hedge
Growing Conditions
Light Requirements
This handsome RHS AGM variety makes a superb low maintenance specimen plant growing equally well in full sun or in the shade of mature trees. Prunus laurocerasus 'Rotundifolia' hedge thrives in various light conditions, including shade, partial shade, and full sun.
Soil Requirements
-
Soil type: Tolerates any type of soil
-
Drainage: Prefers well-drained soil, which is crucial for healthy growth
-
pH tolerance: Adaptable to most soil conditions
-
Note: May become chlorotic in shallow chalk soil
Climate and Hardiness
Cherry laurels are considered extremely unpretentious and hardy, making them suitable for most UK gardens. They're particularly valued for their reliability in various weather conditions.
Planting Guide
When to Plant
For planting, it is best to choose a dry day, free of snow and frost. Autumn planting is ideal as this will give the plant enough time to take root before the first frost and it can then properly sprout for the first time in spring.
What to Look For
When buying cherry laurel, look for healthy, well-rooted plants from reputable nurseries or garden centres. Choose plants that have a good shape and no signs of pests or diseases.
Care and Maintenance
Pruning
Regular pruning maintains shape and encourages dense growth. This variety responds well to both light trimming and harder pruning if needed.
Watering
Established plants are drought tolerant, though regular watering during dry spells will promote better growth and flowering.
Feeding
An annual feed with a balanced fertiliser in spring will support healthy growth and abundant flowering.
Uses in the Garden
-
Hedging: Excellent for creating formal or informal hedges
-
Screening: Perfect for privacy screens and boundary planting
-
Specimen planting: Makes a superb low maintenance specimen plant for borders, woodland areas and wildlife gardens
-
Wildlife gardens: Supports pollinators and provides bird food
-
Windbreaks: Dense growth makes it effective for wind protection
Wildlife Value
This plant is a valuable addition to wildlife gardens. The fragrant blooms are a magnet for pollinating insects, whilst the glossy cherry-red berries provide food for hungry birds.
Why Choose 'Rotundifolia'?
The 'Rotundifolia' variety stands out for its particularly broad leaves that are notably rounded, hinting at its 'Rotundifolia' moniker. This characteristic, combined with its fast growth rate and exceptional adaptability, makes it one of the most reliable and attractive cherry laurel varieties available.
Perfect for both novice and experienced gardeners, this low-maintenance evergreen delivers year-round structure and seasonal interest with minimal fuss.
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.
No posts found
| Size | Availability | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
In stock
|
£9.99 | ||
|
|
In stock
|
£39.99 | ||
|
In stock
|
£4.99 |