Bay Laurel

A Beloved Aromatic With Classic Elegance

Best known for its use as a popular cooking spice, the Bay Laurel is a versatile, hardy evergreen that stands out from the rest. This fragrant tree can also be featured as an ornamental evergreen or even trained as a topiary.

The Bay Laurel’s leaves have been used for centuries as a fresh or dried addition to soups, stews, vegetables, and meats in various cuisines. Their mild flavor enhances the taste and aroma of any dish.

Even better is the fact that the Bay Laurel thrives anywhere – in the ground or a container, indoors or out – so you can enjoy the sweet aroma and endless benefits of this tree no matter the climate or season. In addition, the Bay Laurel’s glossy, dark green foliage adds classic elegance to your porch, patio, balcony, or landscape. In the summer, small black fruit will appear on its branches, attracting birds and other wildlife to your garden.

There is so much to love about the Bay Laurel – you can’t go wrong adding it to your landscape, patio, or home. Grab yours today!

Planting & Care

1. Planting: When planting your Bay Laurel, find a location that offers full to partial sun (4 to 8 hours of sunlight per day). This tree can adapt to a wide variety of soil type as long as it drains well. When you’re ready to plant, dig a hole that’s three times the width of the root ball and slightly shallower than the root ball.

Hold the tree straight as you begin to backfill the site, tamping down the soil as you go. Apply water to settle the soil and remove air pockets.

When selecting a container for your Bay Laurel, be sure it has plenty of holes in the bottom, as drainage is essential. The pot size should be 2 times the size of the one it initially came in.

2. Watering: Stick your finger into the potting soil down to a depth of 2 inches and feel around for any moisture. If the soil is drying out, go ahead and water it until you see it escaping the drainage holes and then stop, or until your ground-planted Bay Laurel’s soil is moist. If there’s some moisture present, leave it be until the soil dries a bit more.

3. Fertilizing: Considering the Bay Laurel is slow growing, it doesn’t require a great deal of food. However, container plants needs to be fed in spring and maybe again in mid-summer. When fertilizing, a general purpose fertilizer (such as a 10-10-10 formula) is sufficient.

4. Pruning: Bay Laurel should be pruned with shears in late winter, removing dead and crossing branches and stems, and shaping the tree to the size and form that you desire.