Quote:
Originally Posted by miljee
I was thinking about digging out a spotted laurel bush altogether. It's 5 foot or so high, maybe 4 across. However, I am wondering whether I can incorporate it into a new planting scheme BUT much smaller, say a 2 foot ball. If I were to cut it back in one go to 2', would death be inevitable?! Or would new shoots sprout from the trunks?
Can I do it now (mid March)? Bear in mind it won't be a catastrophe if I fail, except it would be good to know now, if the plan is doomed, so I can dig it out and plant something else!
I am in Southern Hampshire on clay soil.
Thanks
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I have a spotted laurel - it used to be huge,about 8 foot high and wide, at least, and scrawny, but now i restrict it to about 5 foot tall and 3 foot wide. I think i cut it almost to the ground about 12 years ago and have to cut quite a bit off each year to control it. So i don't think yours will mind a similar treatment. I also have a small one about the size of yours which I'm thinking about keeping no bigger than 3 feet high and wide. However, I don't feel it's the sort of plant that will meekly accept being restricted to a small ball!
If you chopped it back hard, now, I think it would be looking pretty good again by the end of June; next year it would be straining at the leash again.