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Laurel Hedging

Laurel hedging (prunus hedging) will always hold an important place in gardens across the nation. This group of plants makes up some of the most popular evergreen hedging plants, each with their own special features. We have Laurels with compact growing habits for smaller hedges, Laurels with variegated foliage in gold and green, as well as bronze tinted varieties and Laurel hedging with dark-green foliage and maroon red stems, not to mention our ever popular Cherry Laurel hedge plants. Take a look through the varieties below, which we’ve handpicked to offer you the greatest choice of Laurel hedge plants or click here for further information.

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Why use Laurel hedging?

Laurel hedging is quickly recognisable by its foliage, which in most varieties is thick, glossy and deep green, though some varieties display golden/yellow variegation or more slender foliage. This makes it an ideal hedging for privacy screening and noise reduction purposes. Along with year-round colour, Laurels are great for attracting wildlife into the garden; the white spring flowers on most varieties are popular with bees, whilst the berries produced are a favourite with foraging birds.

Are Laurel hedge plants poisonous?

Yes and no. There are few laurel hedge problems despite all parts of all Laurel hedging (excluding Bay Laurel) are poisonous if eaten, as it contains cyanide - which sounds much more frightful than the reality of the situation. Here at best4hedging, we’re keen to ensure our customers make an educated decision when buying Laurel hedging so here’s the low down on poisonous laurel.

Firstly, it is very uncommon in the UK to suffer a serious case of poisoning from any garden plants and in those rare cases where it does occur, it usually presents itself as a skin reaction. To suffer the effects of the cyanide found in Laurels you would have to eat a substantial number of leaves, roots, berries or roots - not an appealing thought.

We are regularly asked if a Laurel hedge could be dangerous for children or pets because us human adults can usually resist the urge to munch on our boundary hedge! In our experience, most dogs are not interested in Laurel hedging and cats are simply too clever to eat anything that doesn’t seem strictly edible. At best4hedging, we’re lucky enough to have a nursery dog called Percy who is a Labrador (renowned for their ability to turn any object into a food source) cross Collie and even he doesn’t get tempted whilst on his daily nursery patrols. Again with children, in our experience, they don’t seem to show much interest in chomping on Laurels, however, should they be so inclined the acrid taste would quickly put them off. The only situation that we don’t recommend Laurel hedging for is as a boundary to livestock who will eat the foliage and can become poorly.

Sizes to suit – small to large laurel hedging

At best4hedging, we’re proud to offer a great range of sizes with all of our hedge plants. Laurel hedging is available in small sizes of 20cm up to enormous root balls, field grown to produce huge bushy plants towering at 4 metres +.  There are many types of laurel, including our Cherry Laurel hedge plants, bare roots (available from November for cost-effective planting), and pot grown plants year-round.

Laurel hedging in history

Have you ever been caught ‘resting on your laurels’? This saying traditionally refers to somebody relying upon past achievements for continued recognition; the Latin for Bay Laurel (Laurel nobilis) translates to noble, hence resting on your laurels or nobility.

Bay Laurel has been used for centuries as a herb, traditionally in Mediterranean soups, stews, pates and casseroles. The fresh flavour is very mild but intensifies upon drying.

Laurel is established in classical Greek and Roman history as well as Biblical culture for its representation of victory - the Laurel wreath being a prime example of this.

So, here at best4hedging we never consider Laurel hedging an uninteresting option, think nobility and victory, and plant with pride!

Common Misspellings:

laural, laurol, laurus nobilis, lorrell, laurelle, loral, lorrel