Cherry Laurel

In your right to pursue happiness, we believe what you do in your own backyard should be your business. Just, ahem—please—look to Cherry Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) as a beautiful option to help shield prying eyes.

Softer in appearance than other hedges, Cherry Laurel has been used worldwide since the Middle Ages. Colonialists in the fledgling United States also used it to edge property borders.

Cherry Laurel thrives under harsh conditions and grows into a lovely backdrop which requires little care. It's wildly useful as a windbreak to protect against strong breezes, but also helps hide a messy neighbor with debonair aplomb.

These are fast-growing broadleaved evergreens that can handle partial shade. They also tolerate salt spray, so can be used on the Coast or along highways or busy streets.

Bedecked with thick, glossy leaves, it handles shearing like a champ. Cherry Laurel makes it easy to try your hand at topiary, or other formal pruning techniques.

Some choose to let their hedge grow out naturally. Why not enjoy the full display of striking fragrant white flower racemes?

Butterflies will come to call on the nectar-rich blooms. Over the season, they morph into cherry-shaped fruit that is adored by birds.

Be sure to order enough Cherry Laurel to complete your project. These high quality shrubs sell out quickly!

How to Use Cherry Laurel in the Landscape

Keep this lovely shrub as a single specimen to provide stylish cover just where you need it. Or add several in a row for an effective screen.

Trim them as low as you'd like. With gleaming, lance-shaped foliage, Cherry Laurel adds a classic look wherever you place them.

For a solid hedge in the shortest amount of time, plant them four feet apart on center. Measure from the center of one to the center of the next.

You can also stagger a double row if you want to establish a living fence...yesterday! Line the fence outside your pool deck and splish-splash without a care in the world.

Maximize your outdoor living space with a thoughtful series of Garden Rooms. Plant a three-sided square and add a long outdoor table for dinner under the stars.

If you can, why not give yourself a personal getaway destination at the same time? Extend a portion of the hedge into a private cove...then sling up a hammock stand.

Another way to enjoy both sides of a Cherry Laurel hedge is to include a Butterfly Garden on the sunny side. The butterflies will be thrilled with additional nectar options to choose from.

Living fences cost far less than other alternatives, especially on large properties. They look better, too!

Cherry Laurels make an incredible garden feature when placed along your property line. Their luxuriant foliage will even muffle the discordant sounds of traffic...and they will be fine even if a slushy splash of road salt hits them.

Pair them with smaller evergreen shrubs or small perennials.

#ProPlantTips for Care

Plant them in either full sun or partial shade. They require at least four hours of direct sunlight a day to flower.

Well-drained soils keep Cherry Laurel happy and healthy. Elevate your shrubs if you have heavy, clay soils that stay sopping wet for a long time after it rains.

The first season, apply a regular schedule of water as their root systems get established. After that, give supplemental water during long dry spells.

Protect your investment with Nature Hills Root Booster. Our growers recommend the symbiotic ingredients that support the tiny feeder roots over the entire life of your new shrub.

After the scented white flowers are finished for the growing season, prune your formal hedge. Ensure the top of the hedge is trimmed more narrowly than the base for sunlight penetration.

This shrub should not be confused with Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis). No part of Cherry Laurel is edible.

However, it certainly does give your landscape a polished, professional look. Order Cherry Laurel shrubs from Nature Hills today!