Are you planning on getting yourself a cherry laurel hedge? As someone who had hedges all my life, I can honestly say that is it a great option. I had common laurel, Portuguese laurel and now I have a cherry laurel. Depending on the variety and how you care about them, they grow pretty tall and you can create a good privacy hedge.
This time I choose cherry laurel because it has dense foliage, and it is also great protection from wind, sun, noise, and air pollution. It is also evergreen, hardy, and robust. Most importantly, it looks pretty good as a hedge.
I read that cherry laurel is not particularly demanding when it comes to its location. However, I found out it is not so. It needs well-drained, dry, sandy soil. In the best case, it should also be rich in nutrients. I had to do a lot of work before planting, including intensive fertilizing. I would recommend analyzing your soil beforehand, maybe a different laurel variety will be more suitable for you.
My friend run into another problem with a hedge. Soil near his house was so compacted (even thou he prepared a place for a plant beforehand) that his hedge died in a year or so. If you do not want it to happen to you too, loosen compacted soil before planting.
Some say that cherry laurel can be planted all year round. However, I must warn you, that this is not the case. It is essential to avoid days when it is freezing or extremely sunny. The best time for planting is autumn, preferably in September or October. This is because then it does not grow and can concentrate on rooting. Alternatively, the cherry laurel can be planted in the spring. Buying the plant is another thing. I bought potted common laurel on LaurelHedging last year and thought about making a part of the hedge from it, but it turns out it is a great indoor plant, who knew… My wife simply loves it, even uses leaves for cooking.
Speaking of which. Cherry laurel has berries. Do not let the children and pets eat them! While they look good, they are also extremely poisonous.
Trimming is another thing I would recommend doing regularly, otherwise, your hedge might not grow in height as much as you want and will just become a bush.
All in all, I recommend you get a laurel hedge. Even though it requires occasional care, it is definitely worth it!
