Regular fertilization increases the resistance
Winter hardy cherry laurel, unlike other shrubs, does not shed its leaves and therefore has a high need for nutrients. The shrub reacts to undersupply with brown leaves and fallen leaves. In addition, laurel cherries that are sufficiently supplied with nutrients are far less susceptible to disease.
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When to fertilize cherry laurel?
The first application of fertilizer takes place in early spring, before the actual growing season begins. In this way, the cherry laurel receives enough nutrients to gather new strength after the hard winter months and to drive it out healthily.
A single fertilization is sometimes not enough for the rapidly growing shrub, even if long-term fertilizers such as horn shavings (€ 6.39 at Amazon *) or compost were used. You should therefore provide the plant with a suitable fertilizer again in early summer at the end of May or beginning of June.
The newly formed wood must be able to mature from the end of July so that the cherry laurel does not freeze back in winter. Therefore, do not give any more fertilizer in late summer and autumn. The plant will then no longer develop fresh shoots and will get through the cold season well.
How is fertilization done?
- Only fertilize the soil when it is moist. First moisten dry soil well before you apply the fertilizer.
- When it comes to 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 fertilizing. If you use grass clippings for mulching, care must be taken to prevent rot. This risk does not exist when covering with bark mulch or wood chips.
Which fertilizer is suitable?
You can fertilize the laurel cherry with various means. Which includes:
- Damn
- compost
- Horn shavings
- Blue grain
- Ready-made fertilizer
How to use each fertilizer
Natural crap
Well-deposited cow or horse manure is well suited for fertilizing the cherry laurel. 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 superfluous in early summer.
Compost from your own garden
Well-matured 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 around the bay cherry in a layer about an inch thick and work it into the ground 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 shredded horns of slaughtered animals. While horn meal can be quickly dissolved in the soil and absorbed by the plants, horn shavings decompose slowly. They are broken down by the smallest living beings and provide the cherry laurel with nutrients over a longer period of time.
Work the fertilizer into the slightly damp soil with a hoe. Since over-fertilization with horn shavings (€ 6.39 at Amazon *) is practically impossible, this fertilizer is also suitable for enriching compost or soil when planting young laurel cherries.
Blue grain
Blue grain is a mineral NPK fertilizer that contains nitrogen (N), phosphate (P) and potash (K). Blue grain 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 grain that has been 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 fertilizers: Convenient and easy to use
Ready-made fertilizer contains all nutritional elements in an optimal composition. You can fertilize the cherry laurel very well, for example, with rhododendron fertilizer or a complex fertilizer (NPK fertilizer). If you administer these fertilizers in the dosage indicated on the package, you can be sure that the cherry laurel is optimally supplied with all the nutrients it needs.
The following applies to all fertilizers: Pay close attention to the manufacturer's instructions regarding the amount and frequency of use. Although the risk of over-fertilization with laurel cherries is rather low, too much fertilizer can slow down growth and cause serious damage to the plants and even death.
Tips & Tricks
Sometimes it happens that a bush of a laurel hedge dies and the resulting hole needs to be filled in with a young plant as quickly as possible. In the second year after planting, you can achieve a big growth spurt with liquid flower fertilizer (€ 13.27 on Amazon *).
