Many gardeners wonder what the best way to do with cherry laurel buds is. Should you let them bloom and produce fruit or remove them beforehand? In this article you will find out what we recommend in this regard.
Is it useful to remove cherry laurel buds?
Should you remove cherry laurel buds depends on your priorities: Removing the buds prevents the formation of poisonous berries, but can be laborious. Cherry laurel growth may accelerate, but the results are not always significant in practice.
Should you remove cherry laurel buds?
Itmay be useful to remove the buds of the cherry laurel. First the flowers develop from them and then the berries, which both look pretty but are mostly poisonous to humans and animals. By removing the buds, you prevent children or pets from messing with the plant parts at an early stage.
But: It is relativelylaborious to cut off the buds. To save yourself the extra work, you could also remove any dead flowers during the recommended second hedge trimming at the end of June.
Does cherry laurel grow faster after removing the buds?
It is not clear whether the cherry laurel grows faster after the buds are separated. Some gardeners hope that the measure will have this effect, so that the cherry laurel hedge will develop even more quickly.
In principle, it seems logical that the laurel cherry can use the energy that it would otherwise have to invest in flower and fruit formation for its basic growth. However, in practice it often happens that the plantdoes not shoot up significantly faster
How do I properly remove the cherry laurel buds?
The most important thing is that you do not remove the buds on your cherry laurel too early in the spring. This would possibly stimulate the growth of the plant, which could cause lasting damage to the laurel cherry during recurring cold periods. Therefore, we recommend not removing the buds until thetemperatures are consistently mild.
To cut the buds on the cherry laurel you needpruning shears. Depending on the size and length of the cherry laurel hedge, cutting off the shoots with the buds can take a lot of time.
Tip
Brown buds on cherry laurel indicate frost damage
Usually the buds of the cherry laurel are green with only subtle brownish details. However, if they turn completely brown, this is a sign of frost damage. The leaves are also generally brown.
