Bay Trees

Anya, like you I bought a pot of tiny cuttings from I think Aldi, split them up, grew them on then gave them away to friends and neighbours rather than giving them leaves on demand. They romped away and my large tree in now back in shape.

I'm inundated with bay trees. We lost our in that last harsh winter (2012? 2013?) and the following year the cost of a new one has rocketed. But in one part of the Garden Centre I spotted a 7" pot filled with tiny (3-6") baby bay trees for £5.

I took it home and repotted them up individually and when I ran out of pots I planted them in various nooks and crannies around the garden. Managed to re-home most of the potted ones (about 25) but if anyone wants a bay tree .(about 2-3' by now) I'm your man (as it were) ???

I am not surprised Bay Trees are pinched. Have you seen the prices of the standard trees in the Garden Centres? This is why I am nurturing mine. I got it for £30 instead of £60 so determined to slaver it in love.

There's a huge bay tree down the lane from me and I cut a few twigs every week to put in a bouquet garni.
I took some cuttings once to try to grow my own, but they didn't work.

DS managed to care for his bay in a pot, surprise, surprise. Now it has been stolen from the front porch. Any ideas for fastening the next one down or maybe adding a detector or alarm?

I just looked at our bay tree and it could be re-shaped. However, I do hope that hacking it back will not be the end of it.

It is in the corner of the garden so I have to trek across a lawn to pick bay leaves for cooking. I was drying some leafy twigs off in the kitchen for winter casseroles and DH threw them out; 'I didn't realise what it was and they looked dead, dear'.

Daughters, Drought and Frost; all killers of plant life.

Being members of the laurel family no matter what you do to them they seem to be indestructible (except in the hands of my daughter!).

I take it they like a sunny spot? Just bought my JIno.2 and intend to re-pot tomorrow. Any hints for re-potting would be appreciated as I am just a patio gardener.

J52 that sounds good, we did the same thing ( lollipop) for the viburnam Eve Price, it looks great, and we underplanted with hardy geraniums and all sorts of things.Not a clipped lollipop look, quite a loose one, making it treelike.

I keep one in a pot by the front door( not shaped) so that leaves are handy for cooking purposes.

We inherited a monster that had been badly pruned over the years. I cut away all the supplementary trunks ( now drying for the wood burner) and then shaped it into a huge lollipop of a tree , 9 or 10 ft. As it faces west, I plan to underplant with shade lovers.

I moved into a house with a south facing garden, it had a bay tree planted in full sun just by the conservatory.Every year i had to hack the thing down and every year it grew back to 5ft high with a span of 6 foot,it was a monster.

I have two that in my ignorance I planted out - they were given to me as gifts, in pots, I am not good with pots! Both have flourished and a bit of a nuisance, but they are evergreen and do hide the fence, smell quite nice when cut too.

Anno mine too!

DD uses bay leaves in cooking and had one in a pot for years and last year it died - I suspect of neglect; she doesn't have a good record with plants! For Christmas I bought her a topiary bay from a garden centre. She was delighted. I told her to put it outside; I supplied her with some fleece to keep the frost off it. Three months later, it is still in the house, drying up, despite my exhortations to put it outside. I could have bought her a packet of bay leaves from a supermarket and saved myself a lot of money. ?

I wish I'd kept mine in a pot
However, it does fill a space in the garden and makes it private.

I got fed up with replacing potted bay trees, so when I got another, I planted it out and it has flourished. Anyone need a supply of bay leaves?

No it's not too early, I have three large bay trees that have been repotted several times. I usually wrap some fleece around them until the chance of frost has passed and keep them sheltered. Stops the leaves from getting frostbitten. And yes, a good multi purpose compost is OK.