Hi.

Is it all right to seriously prune back Portuguese Laurels bushes right now (February), or should we wait till later, or should we not do it all?

2 years ago my street was seriously infested by Vine Weevils - small black beetles that feast on leaves and lay eggs in the soil beneath so that the grubs can feast on the roots! They devastated our Portuguese Laurels - more than any other plant.

So 30 three-foot high Portuguese Laurel bushes forming a hedge round our small garden are now looking unsightly and straggly - lots of branches and sub-branches have few or NO leaves on them at all. Most of the leaves which remain are at the tops of the bushes, where the Vine Weevils didn't much get to, probably because every night we were shaking them off (and squeezing them dead).

We have studied every garden in the road. LOTS of species have been badly attacked by the Weevils. The only ones which the Weevils have NOT touched in our road a
choisya,
aucuba,
seneca (NZ yellow daisy bush),
and phormium (flax).

This winter we have had 2 really cold periods here in Shropshire, with the temperature down to -8C in our area. And this year, unlike last winter, we haven't seen a Weevil anywhere - whereas last winter we found the odd one sheltering inside the house in warm spots! So we are wondering whether or not it's likely that the cold has COMPLETELY killed off the weevils in our street.

We realise that there could be another Vine Weevil infestation this summer or next, or in years to come, and that we really ought to remove all the Portuguese Laurels NOW, and replace them with one of the above (and probably choisya or aucuba would look best in our situation).

But IF cutting all our Portuguese Laurel bushes down to about 9" above soil-level will help them bush again this spring into a healthy state, then we COULD at least postpone the much bigger task of replacing them all.

What would you advise in this situation?

Thank you for all opinions offered.

Pebs.