We have a laurel/bay bush in our back garden (which is actually a tree which
has been cut down to a stump and then regrown as a bush).

I have some other bushes in tubs but they have a different scent and I
particularly like the one in our back garden.

However it may have to go because it is really in the wrong place for our
redesigned rear area.
Obviously being a truncated tree it cannot be lifted and moved.

http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_bay_laurel.htm makes it sound quite
difficult to propagate (however as they can't even get their
Farenheit/Centigrade conversions right I don't know how much to trust them).

Of the three options, I don't see any seeds and layering may take too long
(although air layering is not mentioned, which might be an option) so
cuttings seems to be the best bet.

Has anyone had success taking cuttings from bay?

How do I tell which type of bay it is?
The web site above describes it as a bush but the trunk was pretty big and
the bay trees around this area seem to be just that - trees.
My other bays have grown from seedlings lifted from a friend's garden and
his bay tree is huge.

Cheers

Dave R

"David WE Roberts" wrote in message
...
We have a laurel/bay bush in our back garden (which is actually a tree
which has been cut down to a stump and then regrown as a bush).

I have some other bushes in tubs but they have a different scent and I
particularly like the one in our back garden.

However it may have to go because it is really in the wrong place for our
redesigned rear area.
Obviously being a truncated tree it cannot be lifted and moved.

http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_bay_laurel.htm makes it sound quite
difficult to propagate (however as they can't even get their
Farenheit/Centigrade conversions right I don't know how much to trust
them).
snip
http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/fruit_...ber_3_bay2.asp

also talks of seed germination at 65F/21C

Now
65F = 18.34C
21C = 68.8F

Strange how two sites have the same mistake,

In article ,
David WE Roberts wrote:
We have a laurel/bay bush in our back garden (which is actually a tree which
has been cut down to a stump and then regrown as a bush).

I have some other bushes in tubs but they have a different scent and I
particularly like the one in our back garden.

How do I tell which type of bay it is?
The web site above describes it as a bush but the trunk was pretty big and
the bay trees around this area seem to be just that - trees.
My other bays have grown from seedlings lifted from a friend's garden and
his bay tree is huge.

Where? Bay is like hazel - it's a natural shrub (i.e. multi-stemmed)
but will grow into a fair-sized tree if conditions are right. 9" in
diameter and 20+' high is likely. The simplest diagnostic is the
scent - Laurus nobilis is the true bay you use for cooking, and all
others smell different. It has small yellow flowers in spring.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"David WE Roberts" wrote in message
...
We have a laurel/bay bush in our back garden (which is actually a tree
which has been cut down to a stump and then regrown as a bush).

I have some other bushes in tubs but they have a different scent and I
particularly like the one in our back garden.

However it may have to go because it is really in the wrong place for our
redesigned rear area.
Obviously being a truncated tree it cannot be lifted and moved.

http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_bay_laurel.htm makes it sound quite
difficult to propagate (however as they can't even get their
Farenheit/Centigrade conversions right I don't know how much to trust
them).

Of the three options, I don't see any seeds and layering may take too long
(although air layering is not mentioned, which might be an option) so
cuttings seems to be the best bet.

Has anyone had success taking cuttings from bay?

How do I tell which type of bay it is?
The web site above describes it as a bush but the trunk was pretty big and
the bay trees around this area seem to be just that - trees.
My other bays have grown from seedlings lifted from a friend's garden and
his bay tree is huge.


I have propagated a bay from cuttings. Initially, the potted cuttings seemed
to take quite easily, but most died off in the first year. The sole survivor
stayed stunted for the next five or so years, but then took off like a
rocket, for some unknown reason.

'True' bay trees can grow very big - there's one in the gardens at
Portmeirion that must be over sixty feet tall.

David WE Roberts writes
We have a laurel/bay bush in our back garden (which is actually a tree
which has been cut down to a stump and then regrown as a bush).

I have some other bushes in tubs but they have a different scent and I
particularly like the one in our back garden.

However it may have to go because it is really in the wrong place for
our redesigned rear area.
Obviously being a truncated tree it cannot be lifted and moved.

http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_bay_laurel.htm makes it sound
quite difficult to propagate (however as they can't even get their
Farenheit/Centigrade conversions right I don't know how much to trust
them).

Of the three options, I don't see any seeds and layering may take too
long (although air layering is not mentioned, which might be an option)
so cuttings seems to be the best bet.

Has anyone had success taking cuttings from bay?

Yes, and I'm fairly slapdash with cuttings. Just take a lot. Some will
grow.

How do I tell which type of bay it is?

If it's an edible bay tree, it will smell like bay, and have leaves that
are about 8cm long and 3-4cm wide.

If it's a cherry laurel, it'll have leaves that are nearer 15 cm long,
7cm wide, thicker and glossier.

Portuguese laurel I have no experience with.

The web site above describes it as a bush but the trunk was pretty big
and the bay trees around this area seem to be just that - trees.

Yes, they grow to trees, and grow quite rapidly - ours is giving the
leylandii a good run for their money.

--
Kay

David WE Roberts wrote:


Has anyone had success taking cuttings from bay?


Our mature bay tree self seeds all over the place. I'm always pulling up
bay seedlings as weeds - all over the place. I think the birds must
take the ripe black seeds and drop them all over the place.

Regarding cuttings I took one accidentally and very brutally! After
taking a chainsaw to some of the big overhanging branches on my bay tree
I cut a couple of smallish stakes around 4 feet long and three inches
diameter. I left these stakes in the garage for around six months then
drove one around 18 inches deep into the ground as a post for a
nameplate next to our front gate. After a year it sprouted! That was
around three years ago. The post is still alive and has several shoots
growing happily from it. I don't know if it has actually put any roots
out but it seems happy enough.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

On 27 Dec, 17:49, K wrote:
David WE Roberts writes





We have a laurel/bay bush in our back garden (which is actually a tree
which has been cut down to a stump and then regrown as a bush).

I have some other bushes in tubs but they have a different scent and I
particularly like the one in our back garden.

However it may have to go because it is really in the wrong place for
our redesigned rear area.
Obviously being a truncated tree it cannot be lifted and moved.

http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs...aurel.htmmakes it sound
quite difficult to propagate (however as they can't even get their
Farenheit/Centigrade conversions right I don't know how much to trust
them).

Of the three options, I don't see any seeds and layering may take too
long (although air layering is not mentioned, which might be an option)
so cuttings seems to be the best bet.

Has anyone had success taking cuttings from bay?

Yes, and I'm fairly slapdash with cuttings. Just take a lot. Some will
grow.



How do I tell which type of bay it is?

If it's an edible bay tree, it will smell like bay, and have leaves that
are about 8cm long and 3-4cm wide.

If it's a cherry laurel, it'll have leaves that are nearer 15 cm long,
7cm wide, thicker and glossier.

Portuguese laurel I have no experience with.

The web site above describes it as a bush but the trunk was pretty big
and the bay trees around this area seem to be just that - trees.

Yes, they grow to trees, and grow quite rapidly - ours is giving the
leylandii a good run for their money.

--
Kay- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I wouldn't wory about propagating it, you now quite often see pots of
Bay with several plants to a pot in the "Sheds" as well as stores like
Lidl and Aldi, they are cheap much easier than trying to propagate..
David Hill

In article ,
K wrote:
David WE Roberts writes

How do I tell which type of bay it is?

If it's an edible bay tree, it will smell like bay, and have leaves that
are about 8cm long and 3-4cm wide.

If it's a cherry laurel, it'll have leaves that are nearer 15 cm long,
7cm wide, thicker and glossier.

Portuguese laurel I have no experience with.

The leaves are very hard to tell from true bay, unless you have both
together or can remember which has which subtle feature. Most people
can tell the difference only by scent, or when the plant has flowers
or fruit.

There are also many others plants commonly called bay in some parts
of the world.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:23:42 +0100, David in Normandy
wrote:

Has anyone had success taking cuttings from bay?


Our mature bay tree self seeds all over the place. I'm always pulling up
bay seedlings as weeds - all over the place. I think the birds must
take the ripe black seeds and drop them all over the place.

My mature standard bay tree throws up numerous suckers around its
bole.
These are easy to pull off, plant up and grow on


--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°¹

"K" wrote in message
...
David WE Roberts writes
snip

How do I tell which type of bay it is?

If it's an edible bay tree, it will smell like bay, and have leaves that
are about 8cm long and 3-4cm wide.

If it's a cherry laurel, it'll have leaves that are nearer 15 cm long, 7cm
wide, thicker and glossier.

Portuguese laurel I have no experience with.
snip

Plants in tubs - leaf 70mm long and 30mm wide. No obvious smell of bay. A
bit undernourished, though.

Tree/shrub in back garden leaf 110mm long and 33mm wide. Very sweet bay
smell. This is the one I want to propogate.

It looks as though they are both edible bay (I hope).

"Dave Hill" wrote in message
...
On 27 Dec, 17:49, K wrote:
David WE Roberts writes
snip

I wouldn't wory about propagating it, you now quite often see pots of
Bay with several plants to a pot in the "Sheds" as well as stores like
Lidl and Aldi, they are cheap much easier than trying to propagate..
David Hill

Problem is they may not be the same variety as the one in my back garden.

I already have other bay shrubs (as stated earlier) but they are not the
same.

It is this specific variety that I want to preserve.

In article ,
David WE Roberts wrote:

Portuguese laurel I have no experience with.

Plants in tubs - leaf 70mm long and 30mm wide. No obvious smell of bay. A
bit undernourished, though.

What, if anything, do the leaves smell of when crushed? If nothing
at all, my bet is that it is one of the many foliage plants that have
leaves very like bay. It's very unlikely to be true bay, but might
be Portuguese laurel.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 27 Dec, 18:50, "David WE Roberts" wrote:
"Dave Hill" wrote in message

...

On 27 Dec, 17:49, K wrote:
David WE Roberts writes
snip

I wouldn't wory about propagating it, you now quite often see pots of
Bay with several plants to a pot in the "Sheds" as well as stores like
Lidl and Aldi, they are cheap much easier than trying to propagate..
David Hill

Problem is they may not be the same variety as the one in my back garden.

I already have other bay shrubs (as stated earlier) but they are not the
same.

It is this specific variety that I want to preserve.

Well that's put me in my place.
David Hill

On 2009-12-27 15:27:20 +0000, "David WE Roberts" said:

We have a laurel/bay bush in our back garden (which is actually a tree
which has been cut down to a stump and then regrown as a bush).

I have some other bushes in tubs but they have a different scent and I
particularly like the one in our back garden.

However it may have to go because it is really in the wrong place for
our redesigned rear area.
Obviously being a truncated tree it cannot be lifted and moved.

http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_bay_laurel.htm makes it sound
quite difficult to propagate (however as they can't even get their
Farenheit/Centigrade conversions right I don't know how much to trust
them).

Of the three options, I don't see any seeds and layering may take too
long (although air layering is not mentioned, which might be an option)
so cuttings seems to be the best bet.

Has anyone had success taking cuttings from bay?

How do I tell which type of bay it is?
The web site above describes it as a bush but the trunk was pretty big
and the bay trees around this area seem to be just that - trees.
My other bays have grown from seedlings lifted from a friend's garden
and his bay tree is huge.

Cheers

Dave R

If it makes you think of bread sauce and Sunday lunch, it's the
cooking variety. They spread enthusiastically, though they can be
trained to one stem if caught before they've got away! We have a slab
of it in part of the garden here and it's regularly treated to severe
hacking back As to its height, a friend of mine's wife went out and
bought a tiny bay in a pot when they moved into their new house
because, she said, they had none. He silently pointed to those in
front of the kitchen which had grown to around 30' at the bottom of a
well watered valley slope! They were so huge it had never occurred to
her that they were Laurus nobilis.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

David WE Roberts writes

"K" wrote in message
...
David WE Roberts writes
snip

How do I tell which type of bay it is?

If it's an edible bay tree, it will smell like bay, and have leaves
that are about 8cm long and 3-4cm wide.

If it's a cherry laurel, it'll have leaves that are nearer 15 cm
long, 7cm wide, thicker and glossier.

Portuguese laurel I have no experience with.
snip

Plants in tubs - leaf 70mm long and 30mm wide. No obvious smell of bay.
A bit undernourished, though.

If it is bay, it should smell of bay if you crush a leaf

Tree/shrub in back garden leaf 110mm long and 33mm wide. Very sweet bay
smell. This is the one I want to propogate.

The leaf seems a bit large for bay.

It looks as though they are both edible bay (I hope).

--
Kay