Cherry laurel is one of the extremely fast-growing shrubs. With growth of up to forty centimeters per year, freshly planted laurel cherries quickly develop into magnificent trees that form dense, evergreen hedges. In order for the cherry laurel to thrive, it needs cyclic fertilizer in addition to the right location.
When and how should you fertilize cherry laurel?
Cherry laurel should be supplied with suitable fertilizer such as manure, compost, horn shavings, blue grain or ready-made fertilizer in the spring before the growing season and in early summer. Regular fertilization strengthens resistance and prevents nutrient deficiency problems such as brown leaves and leaf shedding.
Regular fertilization increases resistance
Unlike other shrubs, hardy cherry laurel does not shed its leaves and therefore has a high nutrient requirement. The shrub reacts to undersupply with brown leaves and shedding of leaves. In addition, bay cherries that are sufficiently supplied with nutrients are far less susceptible to disease.
When to fertilize cherry laurel?
The first fertilizer is applied in early spring, before the actual growing season begins. In this way, the laurel cherry receives enough nutrients to gather new strength and grow he althily after the harsh winter months.
One-time fertilization is sometimes not enough for the fast-growing shrub, even if long-term fertilizers such as horn shavings or compost were used. Therefore, provide the plant with a suitable fertilizer again in early summer at the end of May or beginning of June.
From the end of July, the newly formed wood must be able to mature so that the laurel cherry does not freeze back in winter. Therefore, stop applying fertilizer in late summer and autumn. The plant then no longer produces fresh shoots and gets through the cold season well.
How to fertilize?
- Fertilize the soil only when it is moist. First moisten dry soil well before applying the fertilizer.
- When fertilizing, less is more. Use compost, manure and other fertilizers moderately. If necessary, you can fertilize the laurel cherry a second time in early summer.
- Mulch the soil around the cherry laurel after fertilization. If you use lawn clippings for mulching, care must be taken to ensure that no rot occurs. This danger does not exist when covering with bark mulch or wood chips.
Which fertilizer is suitable?
You can fertilize the laurel cherry using various means. These include:
- Crap
- Compost
- Horn shavings
- Bluegrain
- Finished fertilizer
How to use each fertilizer
Natural crap
Well-seasoned cow or horse manure is well suited for fertilizing the laurel cherry. Alternatively, you can purchase manure in pellet form from stores. These fertilizers also have a purely biological effect. Manure pellets usually have a depot effect, which makes a second fertilizer application in early summer unnecessary.
Compost from your own garden
Well-ripened compost is the ideal fertilizer. It contains sufficient nitrogen and all other important nutrients and trace elements in optimal doses and in an easily usable form. Spread the compost in a layer about a centimeter thick around the laurel cherry and work it into the soil with a hoe. Make sure that the compost is ripe, otherwise it will draw nitrogen from the soil, which the shrub needs for growth.
Horn fertilizer: Very good organic nitrogen fertilizer
Horn meal, horn shavings and horn meal consist of the crushed horns of slaughtered animals. While horn meal can be quickly dissolved in the soil and absorbed by plants, horn shavings decompose slowly. They are decomposed by microorganisms and provide the cherry laurel with nutrients over a longer period of time.
Work the fertilizer into the slightly moist soil with a hoe. Since over-fertilization with horn shavings is practically impossible, this fertilizer is also suitable for enriching compost or soil when planting young bay cherries.
Bluegrain
Blaukorn is a mineral NPK fertilizer that contains nitrogen (N), phosphate (P) and potash (K). Blaukorn works very quickly and is very inexpensive compared to many other fertilizers. However, blue grain does not contain any organic material and the fertilizer therefore does not improve the soil quality.
Work the blue seed spread around the cherry laurel well into the moist soil and water the plant thoroughly after fertilizing. Dose blue grain very precisely, otherwise there is a risk of over-fertilizing the soil. As a result, nitrogen enters the groundwater in the form of nitrate and the soil structure suffers.
Organic ready-made fertilizers: convenient and easy to use
Finished fertilizer contains all nutrient elements in an optimal composition. You can very well fertilize the cherry laurel with rhododendron fertilizer (€8.00 on Amazon) or a complex fertilizer (NPK fertilizer). If you administer these fertilizers in the dosage stated on the package, you can be sure that the laurel cherry is well supplied with all the necessary nutrients.
The following applies to all fertilizers: Pay close attention to the manufacturer's instructions regarding quantity and frequency of application. Although the risk of over-fertilization of laurel cherries is relatively low, too much fertilizer can still slow down growth and cause serious damage to the plants, including death.
Tips & Tricks
Sometimes it happens that a bush of a laurel hedge dies and the resulting hole needs to be filled as quickly as possible with a young plant. In the second year after planting, you can get a big growth boost with liquid flower fertilizer.