A new garden: Bay tree
This is the first plant I have bought for my garden. It has a lollipop shape, unfortunately, as I would prefer a more natural one. It would also blend better with my garden which has a cottage style. But I hope it will change with time. Bay trees grow very slowly and are very easy to shape by light pruning.
It is a relatively easy plant to care for, that grows well in a container, which is how I will keep it. Even though I have read that it can survive a bit Winter frost, I am not going to risk it and will move it indoors during the coldest months. It is an AGM (Award of Garden Merit) plant.
I love to cook with bay leaves, I use it almost daily, and it is ridiculously hard to find good tasty leaves where I live. So I really needed to have one.
Last but not the least, a couple more links: this one and this one.
Potting and repotting: Repot every two years in Spring. Adding a layer of 2cm of stones at the bottom of the pot improves the drainage. Move up the plant as it grows by repotting on a larger pot. When reaching the largest pot size that is convenient maintain at that size by pruning the rootball. Lift the plant out of its pot and tease off a third of the roots before adding fresh potting mixture and checking drainage. Remove and replace the top 5cm of compost from the top of the container.
Leaf spots may be an indication that the compost has become old and tired. Repot your plant in spring as explained above. They are also often caused by waterlogged roots or wet weather conditions.
It is a relatively easy plant to care for, that grows well in a container, which is how I will keep it. Even though I have read that it can survive a bit Winter frost, I am not going to risk it and will move it indoors during the coldest months. It is an AGM (Award of Garden Merit) plant.
I love to cook with bay leaves, I use it almost daily, and it is ridiculously hard to find good tasty leaves where I live. So I really needed to have one.
Last but not the least, a couple more links: this one and this one.
Potting and repotting: Repot every two years in Spring. Adding a layer of 2cm of stones at the bottom of the pot improves the drainage. Move up the plant as it grows by repotting on a larger pot. When reaching the largest pot size that is convenient maintain at that size by pruning the rootball. Lift the plant out of its pot and tease off a third of the roots before adding fresh potting mixture and checking drainage. Remove and replace the top 5cm of compost from the top of the container.
Leaf spots may be an indication that the compost has become old and tired. Repot your plant in spring as explained above. They are also often caused by waterlogged roots or wet weather conditions.
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