Comments on: Bay Laurel Plants

By: Mel

Mel — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:55:44 +0000

I think I have three bay laurels, in a boarder along my wall. When we bought the house four years ago they were very small and the owner told me to keep trimming it back so it would eventually fill out to cover the wall behind it. Four years have past and despite my ‘hacking’ away at them with shears twice a year, never feeding them and them being exposed to freezing temperatures every winter they have flourished.

I have a couple of problems with them though, first being that one of the bay laurel bushes has always had mottled leaves and I never thought anything of it until I read this thread. It’s not scale or mould just a yellow spotted discolouration of the leaf, and this bush is the only one that has started to flower for the very first time this year. I think it’s pretty healthy, could this be a slightly different kind of laurel?

The other two have lovely shiny green leaves but no flowers. The end bush though doesn’t get as much sunlight as the others and doesn’t seem to be ‘filling out’ as well, does anyone have any suggestions for helping it?

By: Bay Laurel : The Panacea

Bay Laurel : The Panacea — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:18:07 +0000

[...] In its native Mediterranean climate Bay Laurel is an evergreen tree reaching heights of over forty feet. In Northern climates Sweet Bay will grow like a shrub or small plant and is normally maintained at about six feet in height. If your growing region experiences cold, freezing temperatures Bay plants should be grown in containers and moved indoors during the winter. 2 [...]

By: Kenny Point

Kenny Point — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 05:56:47 +0000

My Bay Laurel Plants have never flowered even though they continue to mature and grow larger. My oldest plant is about four years old and at least five feet tall but has shown no sign of producing any flowers. I don’t know if it is just related to the climate where the bay plant is grown.

By: Mary Saunders

Mary Saunders — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 04:56:05 +0000

I have never done anything special to mine to make it flower. It has been encased in ice some winters. It certainly froze many times this winter here. The buds just seem to go dormant if it is cold, and then they wake up when it gets warm enough. I have found it to be far hardier than nursery owners seem to know about. I cannot remember how old it was before it flowered. I don’t think it was that old, maybe three? Anyone else have input on this?

By: Linda

Linda — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 02:54:43 +0000

I have a small Bay that I bought about 2 years ago. The first year it was fine and I took leaves off not knowing that they would not return. It started not doing well so I repotted it and it perked up. We just moved and I repotted it again but in a much begger pot. It has shots coming up from the bottom but has never flowered. At what age do they flower? Do I need to plant it in the ground? I live in Texas and never taken it inside. I have covered it when the tempeture went down below 40? What can I do to help it flower?

By: Gio

Gio — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:40:10 +0000

Thank you both for response. The tree has been moved outside immediately!!! I will let you know how it goes!

By: Mary Saunders

Mary Saunders — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 02:53:43 +0000

I second that taking it outside will expose it to sufficient predators to deal with insect issues. My bay is outside all the time, but I take my citrus in and out. When they have had scale, something outside takes care of it.

I also second that this is a very thirsty tree. It is dry under my outside tree nearly all the time, even though this is Oregon and it rains a lot. It does make it through summer without irrigation. This is a hint that the roots may go deep.

The flowers smell really good to me, sort of like incense.

By: Kenny Point

Kenny Point — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:22:51 +0000

Hi Gio, sounds like you weren’t watering the bay plant enough during the winter months that it spent inside. The sticky stuff may be from scale on the plant. My bay laurel tree had the same thing happen while it was indoors one year, but it cleared up on its own after the tree went back outside in the spring. I would just water your bay plant a little more frequently to see if it will recover and get it back outside as soon as the weather will permit.