Planting cherry laurel - you should keep this distance

Plant cherry laurel at the right distance

Strong and rapid growth

When planting the cherry laurel, you should not ignore the enormous vigor of the evergreen shrub. Many species reach heights and widths of three meters and more. In small gardens, you should therefore only plant slow-growing varieties that will not take up too much space in the garden with regular pruning.

The planting distance in hedges

Since a hedge is supposed to grow up, the bushes must be set close enough. At the same time, you should not fall short of a certain minimum distance so that the individual shrubs thrive in bushy form and do not press each other. Please note:

You can place broad-growing varieties with a plant height of about one meter at a distance of fifty to one hundred centimeters. In this way the hedge can slowly compact and the individual shrubs do not hinder their growth.
The planting distance also depends on the variety. Slender and tall cherry laurels like Genolia need to be planted closer together than bushy species. Plan at least three plants of these laurel cherries per running meter.
How many bushes you need per meter of hedge also depends on the size of the cherry laurel purchased. Experts recommend the Etna variety with a height of eighty centimeters to plant at least three linear meters. Shrubs that are already 160 centimeters tall when you buy them require one meter of planting distance to develop freely.

Plan enough distance to fences and walls

Since cherry laurel grows very quickly and can gain up to fifty centimeters in height and width per year, you must plan enough space for the pruning to fences and buildings. You can see how wide the cherry laurel will be from the information on the plant label. Allow at least fifty centimeters of space for the maximum width so that you can easily walk around the entire bush when pruning.