"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Glittery Gary wrote:

"Lee and Kath" wrote in message
. ..
I am fed up withh the unavailablity of bay leaves in the shops so I want
to
have my own tree.

I live in SE sheffield. It is not particularly cold here - quite
sheltered. I do not have
agreenhouse or conservatory but the garage has a large clear part to the
roof (ivy grows INSIDE very
well) if shelter is needed in winter.

Is it easy to care fof?

No shelter needed.

Winters well outside. We have a number of young coming along.

If, however, we return to the winters of 20+ years ago, it will
not overwinter reliably in the colder parts of the country. It
regrows well from its roots, but will not survive having its top
growth killed every winter. I am not sure what it can take, but
my guess is that -15 Celcius, probably even an extended period of
-10 with a wind, will kill its leaves.

We used to get that, but I haven't seen such temperatures in
Cambridge in over a decade.

Give it somewhere well-drained and let it go. It can be pruned
back ad lib and even clipped.


are you intending to buy a mature plant or grow from a shoot.

they do take some time to grow from shoots.

see our 18 year old, http://www.daj.fseltd.btinternet.co.uk/BayTree.htm

Well, my 10 year old one is c. 8' high. They grow quite fast if
they like the conditions, so it is NOT worth spending a lot of
money on a large plant. It is worth getting an established plant
because, as you say, they take a while to get going from a cutting.



Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

we cut it back most years to this height, 10 feet and it's about 6 feet in
diameter.

dj