In article ,
sheila wrote:
"kay" wrote in message
...
OtherFellow;913066 Wrote:

I'm wondering the same thing though mine is planted in the garden -
they're obviously not as hardy as I thought!

Big ones are fairly hardy, young ones less so. My 20 ft-er is unscathed,
the big shrub that I cut down and since have pruned to keep at 18 inches
has had all its new growth killed.

No harm in cutting back branches which are completely dead. But if
you're not sure, I'd wait until green buds show, then prune accordingly.

I was just wondering the same think about mine, its in a tub, and doesnt
look very well, it went through last winter unscathed, but this year is most
ill looking, I'll do the bark test tomorrow.

Remember that bay is a true shrub, and will reshoot from its roots
even if all of the trunks are dead. So don't worry even if that
fails, until it also fails to reshoot.

After 1962-3, a very big one (in the ground) didn't reshoot until
1964, and then made a thicket.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.