Cherry Laurel may not be the best choice for your garden and here’s why

Many consider Cherry Laurel one of the most versatile hedging species. It’s very popular. It boasts large, glossy green foliage all year round. It is one of the most popular choices for dense evergreen hedging and makes an effective privacy screen. The plant’s density minimises the effects of noise and wind and provides year-round interest for gardens.

It’s also sturdy enough to survive in different soil conditions. It can thrive in the sun and shade. On top of that, it’s pretty cheap.

So, a hedge that blocks wind, is sturdy to all growing conditions, and cheap is bad? But wait, Protect Earth have been banging on about the benefits of hedgerows and shelterbelts. Surely, there’s no difference?

There is. Read on to discern good and bad hedges!

What is Cherry Laurel?

Cherry Laurel - a plant with an identity crisis of sorts! It masquerades as Prunus Laurocerasus, Common Laurel, and English Laurel (despite not being from England). It’s native to regions bordering the Black Sea in southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe from Albania and Bulgaria, stretching east to Turkey, the Caucasus Mountains, and northern Iran.

This evergreen species is easy to grow in moist soil with good drainage. When planted, it is fast-growing and forms dense walls of foliage. It can reach heights between 5 to 15 metres tall and is often used for hedging shrubs.

Mature shrubs produce millions of seeds which can been transported through wind, and birds spread the seeds in their droppings after eating the berries.

Where in the UK is Cherry Laurel found?

Everywhere! Cherry Laurel is widely used as an ornamental plant. It can be found in gardens and parks. Construction companies use it to make their new developments look bedded in and green year-round. As said earlier, it’s often used for hedges, as a screening plant, so its on every farm, many roadsides, and industrial estates. It’s also all over our woodlands.

Why is it bad?

Cherry Laurel is damaging for two big reasons.

Cherry Laurel’s rapid growth and ability to thrive in the shade or drought means that it will quickly overtake other plants, and shade out native trees, taking away from their habitats and causing big problems for our ecosystems. It’s an invasive species, which means it can literally take over an ecosystem and disrupt natural cycles of our trees. Instead of trees growing old, falling, leaving a clearing, making opportunity for other native species to grow, and all the while supporting wildlife, a woodland infested with Cherry Laurel will just forever be a heaving mass of Cherry Laurel, with little to no value to wildlife other than feeding a few birds.

The other concern is that it contains cyanide, the deadly poison in many Hollywood spy movies! A few berries can be enough to kill or seriously harm children and pets, yet it’s still used in most new housing developments and schools.

So yes, if you ever encounter this nefarious shrub, exercise caution. Wear gloves when handling, and wash your hands thoroughly afterwards.

How to remove it?

Firstly, the best way to remove Cherry Laurel from shelves across the UK is to avoid buying it. Consumers can make a stand by not buying it, and recognising this shrub as an invasive species that can do real damage.

When it comes to removing Cherry Laurel, removal can become a more difficult job the larger the shrubs become. When they’re smaller you can just pull them out, but be careful, they’ll regrow if any part of the shrub is touching the floor.

When they’re larger it might require a bow saw, loppers, or chain saw to break them up into manageable pieces.

We can seek to have existing Cherry Laurel removed by petitioning for its removal in spaces we’re not allowed to remove ourselves.

To sum up

Cherry Laurel that easy to grow, green-year-round, sturdy hedge is not the solution. It is causing real problems for native plants by strong arming and strangling them.

Protect Earth do invasive species removal all over the UK. Please contact us if you would like to remove any Cherry Laurel.