How to Plant a Laurel Hedge

Decide on the planting line first. Allow for how wide the hedge will grow, and for the spread of its roots and branches, especially if you are planting next to a public footpath, bridleway or your boundary. Plant at least 45cm from a fence or wall so you can trim the back of the hedge, and check for underground pipes and cables before you dig.

Plant laurel 60 to 90cm (2 to 3ft) apart in a single row. That works out at roughly 1.7 plants per metre at 60cm spacing and 1.1 plants per metre at 90cm.

Closer spacing gives you a dense screen sooner, but you will need more plants. Wider spacing is cheaper and the hedge still fills in, it just takes a little longer. For an extra-wide, thick screen you can plant a double, staggered row.

1. Water the plants thoroughly an hour or so before planting. Stand rootballs or pots in a bucket of water if they are dry.
2. Dig a trench twice as wide as the pots or rootballs and about as deep. Loosen the soil at the bottom with a fork.
3. Mix good-quality compost into the soil you have dug out. If you like, sprinkle mycorrhizal fungi onto the roots to help them establish.
4. Set the plants in the trench at your chosen spacing, with the top of each rootball level with the surrounding soil. On rootballed plants, loosen the hessian at the top.
5. Backfill with the soil and compost mix, keeping it loose around the roots, then firm gently with your heel.
6. Water in thoroughly, even if the ground is damp.
7. Spread a 5cm layer of bark mulch along the row, keeping it clear of the stems, and trim back any shoots that stick out beyond the line of the hedge.

You can plant pot-grown laurel at almost any time of year, but most gardeners agree autumn is best, especially for cheaper bare-root and rootballed hedging. Why autumn rather than spring? The soil is still warm, so new roots grow before winter. By the time the hot, dry weather of summer arrives, the plants are much better established and less likely to suffer.

Bare-root and rootballed laurel is only available from November to March, while the plants are dormant. Anything planted during the growing season, from March to October, will need regular watering until it settles in.

The first year is when a new hedge is most vulnerable. Water deeply once or twice a week in dry spells through its first summer; a soaker hose laid along the row makes this easy. Keep the base free of weeds and grass, top up the mulch, and give a general-purpose feed in spring. Once established, see our laurel hedge care guide.