In article ,
Smutje writes:
|
| I just found this site and have a few questions. I am new to gardening
| (having bought our house in Dorset only last year and never in my 47
| years had a garden) but I would like to give it a go as I have a keen
| interest in cooking and would love to produce some of my own stuff.

Bully for you! There are lots of regular posters who do just that;
yours truly among them.

I recommend looking at rec.gardens.edible for the edible herb FAQ
by Henrietta Kress. You may see my name in that :-)

| I have got a Bay Tree that is about 5ft tall and now be thinking of
| re-planting it in to the front garden. I want it to grow bigger as I
| use bay leaves nearly daily and want the tree to mature before I start
| taking the leaves off on a regular base. Is there any specific time to
| do it (i.e. spring rather than autumn)?

Any time in the winter, though I doubt that it will like transplanting.
Given reasonable conditions (including some sun), bay is not fussy, and
you need not worry about taking leaves off it. 5' is ample for any
plausible domestic kitchen, if you allow it to bush out.

And you can prune it back as hard as you like (I did mine this spring)
and it will reshoot. It is a good hedging plant.

| Also something seems to be eating on it (pictures of the damage can be
| found here
| http://tinyurl.com/25scov

Dunno, but I get a few of them, and the bay doesn't suffer much.

| And lastly I would like to take a clipping from my Bay Tree and start
| growing a new one with it. I have seen a couple of posts here that say
| roughly what to do but any chance of giving me a few more detailed
| hints like where to take the clippings from, what to look out for and
| how to grow the roots (i.e. do I just stick it in a pot with compost
| and hope for the best?

No. Get some sharp sand (cheaper from a builder), put some lawn moss
in the bottom of a 4-5" pot (or a single layer of old cloth, if you
have no moss), and fill the pot with sand. Pull off some shoots of
new (growth, with a small 'heel' of old wood, remove most of the leaves
(keeping the ones at the tip), stick them in, and keep it well watered
and out of the sun. Don't worry about a heel if your shoots don't have
one, as not all plants need them. And now is the time. If any of them
take, pot the rooted cuttings in compost next spring.

It is a good idea to prune the branches and THEN pull the shoots off,
as you don't want to damage the parent bush.

I am not very good at cuttings, but that is the technique. If you
succeed, and want a hedge, consider using bay.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.