Bay tree rescue help please?
 

Hello all,

This is my 1st post on this forum so please no newbie bullying.

I've been given a relatively mature Bay tree (approx 1.25m high) by a kind customer of mine. She has had it from seed but in recent years has let her garden including the Bay go due to ill health.

Its in a rather large pot but the roots are protruding through the top of the soil. I plan to re-pot it in a larger pot adding more soil that will hopefully introduce more nutrition to the root structure. Is this the right thing to do and am I going about it the right way?

Which soil would suit a Bay tree? What should I avoid and avoid doing?

Bay tree rescue help please?
 

under par wrote:
Hello all,

This is my 1st post on this forum so please no newbie bullying.

I've been given a relatively mature Bay tree (approx 1.25m high) by a
kind customer of mine. She has had it from seed but in recent years
has
let her garden including the Bay go due to ill health.

Its in a rather large pot but the roots are protruding through the top
of the soil. I plan to re-pot it in a larger pot adding more soil that
will hopefully introduce more nutrition to the root structure. Is this
the right thing to do and am I going about it the right way?

Which soil would suit a Bay tree? What should I avoid and avoid doing?

I am not an expert on trees. I looked up bay trees on wikipedia those
trees can get to be 18 meters tall. Putting the tree in a larger pot
will cause the tree to get larger, if that is what you want. One can
limit the size of a tree by keeping the root ball small. If you like
the size of the tree now, trim the rootball to fit the existing pot. But
beware, trimming off too much of the root ball could make things worse.
The soil should be replaced with fresh soil every year. Potting soil
should work. Using a heavier garden soil does not do as well for indoor
pots. Could plant the tree outside in the ground if your region is in
the mediterranean.

Others here may want to know what size of pot is in it now and how big
of a pot you were planning to put it in? Is the plant outside or
inside? In the shade or sun?
The tree according to wikipedia, the tree is native to the
Mediterranean, are you from that region or a much colder climate?

I am sure others here may provide additional advice that I may have
missed or needs to be corrected.

--
Enjoy Life... Dan L (Garden in zone 5a Michigan)

Bay tree rescue help please?
 

under par wrote:
Hello all,

This is my 1st post on this forum so please no newbie bullying.

I've been given a relatively mature Bay tree (approx 1.25m high) by a
kind customer of mine. She has had it from seed but in recent years
has
let her garden including the Bay go due to ill health.

Its in a rather large pot but the roots are protruding through the top
of the soil. I plan to re-pot it in a larger pot adding more soil that
will hopefully introduce more nutrition to the root structure. Is this
the right thing to do and am I going about it the right way?

Which soil would suit a Bay tree? What should I avoid and avoid doing?

I am not an expert on trees. I looked up bay trees on wikipedia those
trees can get to be 18 meters tall. Putting the tree in a larger pot
will cause the tree to get larger, if that is what you want. One can
limit the size of a tree by keeping the root ball small. If you like
the size of the tree now, trim the rootball to fit the existing pot. But
beware, trimming off too much of the root ball could make things worse.
The soil should be replaced with fresh soil every year. Potting soil
should work. Using a heavier garden soil does not do as well for indoor
pots. Could plant the tree outside in the ground if your region is in
the mediterranean.

Others here may want to know what size of pot is in it now and how big
of a pot you were planning to put it in? Is the plant outside or
inside? In the shade or sun?
The tree according to wikipedia, the tree is native to the
Mediterranean, are you from that region or a much colder climate?

I am sure others here may provide additional advice that I may have
missed or needs to be corrected.

--
Enjoy Life... Dan L (Garden in zone 5a Michigan)

Hi Under Par, I grow loads of bay trees in pots, mainly for resale down here in Cornwall. As you are in Bournemouth, it will be fine as regards hardiness!! I would suggest that the best time to repot it would be in the spring around the end of March and depending on how it looks, that would be the time to prune it or shape it as well. I would use any balanced compost, as long as its both well drained for winter and also that it holds the moisture in summer. One tip i can give you is to not fill the pot right to the brim, leave at least 2 -3 inches between the compost and pot rim so that in very dry weather, you can fill this with water to give it a good drink!! I use 'miracle grow' liquid feed on mine and give them a feed monthly but only up until end of july as i dont want them going into winter still making lots of soft growth that may be more easily dammaged by adverse weather! In subsequent years, I would prune them both in March and again the first week of August, that later trim helps to keep them very compact. Finally, the only other problem that you may encounter is that they tend to send up lots of suckers from the base, now if your growing it as a bush, this wont be a problem but if its on a clean stem, then these suckers can be a nuisance.
best wishes and good luck, Lannerman

Thank you so much for the replies That is just the info I was after Lannerman. The only reason I was going to re pot the tree was it don't look to good and I thought re poting it would help. So from what you said I should just leave it be for now and address it in the spring with a feed and prune if needed, I doubt the prune will be necessary yet as there are not many leaves on it at present :( .

You mentioned suckers. Sorry new to gardening so could you explain what you mean? The tree is on a clean stem. I will upload a pic tomorrow if I get the camera working.

hi under par, when I frst saw your question, I had a suspicion that this bay was probably trained into a ball on a stem!! The suckers i mention are shoots that come from around the base of the trunk at soil level and bays are notorious for producing these. Maybe your lucky and yours doesnt have any, if so then you wont have to remove them Haaaa!! You say that it has few leaves on it and that would reinforce your comments that it has indeed been neglected so a good prune in the spring will encourage lots of new shoots. Last year, one of my clients had a similar tree with a 3-4ft wide head that, like yours had few leaves, so in March i really slaughtered it and even i was suprised how well it produced shoots, even from very hard wood, so yours should do the same. keep pinching these new shoots when they get to 6" long, the more you pinch, the better the eventual shape.
best of luck, Lannerman