The cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) is very popular. It is valued for its evergreen, shiny leaves and the scent of its white flowers, which testify to its relationship to other trees of the Prunus genus, such as the ornamental cherry. As a pasture for bees, it makes a valuable contribution to protecting insects. Vigorous varieties of the exotic shrub also protect you and your garden from prying eyes. But what you may not have known is that cherry laurel is very easy to propagate. Below you will find a list of the possible onesMethods and instructionsHow to propagate cherry laurel.
Propagation by cuttings
You can easily propagate cherry laurel from cuttings. This type of propagation is also used in tree nurseries because it is simple and productive and, in contrast to propagation via seeds, enables guaranteed varietal production. The first step is to choose the right mother plant. It should of course be healthy and sufficiently supplied with nutrients. The cuttings must be cut in late summer. It is very important that the selected shoots are well matured; their tips should no longer be soft. This can only be achieved if you avoid high nitrogen doses in summer. Between August and October you can check the shoot tips for strength and theythen cutwhen they have solidified.
The cut is cut at a slight angle with a sharp knife and should be about 15 cm long. Now the larger leaves are trimmed to reduce water evaporation and you can remove some, leaving a leafless, bare area that can be stuck into the soil. The shoot is placed in a 3:1 mixture of peat and sand or in special cuttings soil, which is available from specialist retailers. It is important that the cutting soil is low in nutrients, so do not use compost or fertilizer. The pots used for propagation should have holes on the bottom so that excess water can drain away and avoid waterlogging.
When propagating cuttings, do the following:
- Fill the pots to the brim with the dry soil. Raise it several times to 10 cm and let it fall from this height. Repeat this process five times. In this way the substrate collapses andthe cutting haslater the necessary contact with earth. If necessary, add more soil and compact it until the filling level is correct.
- Now insert the prepared incision at a slight angle and completely flat. If necessary, use a piercing rod or thin pencil to make a hole for the cutting. A few centimeters of the bare stem should remain stuck in the substrate. If you feel that the cutting is too loose and is about to fall out, press it lightly into the soil. However, do not press it too hard, otherwise not enough oxygen will reach the interface and rooting will be hindered.
- Now water the pots well. If you notice that soil is being washed away from the surface, you can spread the soil a little more loosely.
- Now place the growing container in a warm place (above 20 °C) with high humidity; Cold frames or growing boxes are suitable for this. If you have put the cuttings in pots, you can also use a clear plastic bag and e.g. B. attach to the edge of the pot with adhesive tape. However, you should ventilate occasionally to avoid the establishment of fungi.
- Make sure that the moisture is evenly maintained - the substrate must not become waterlogged and the substrate must not dry out. After about four weeks the cuttings are rooted. At slightly lower temperatures it may take a little longer. Then separate the rooted cuttings into pots. In spring you can then plant out the plants as usual.
Propagate the hedge bush by sowing
If you already have a cherry laurel plant, you may have noticed that small new plants occasionally appear in its surroundings. This is because the cherry laurel reproduces independently by sowing itself. In theory, you can dig up these plants and plant them in the spot where you want a new shrub. But there's one thing you have to keep in mind: these little cherry laurel plantsare from seedsdeveloped. These seeds were created through fertilization in the flower of your plant.
In addition, the cherry laurel is a cross-pollinator; it cannot “self-pollinate” like some plants (e.g. peas, potatoes, runner beans) can. The small seedlings must therefore necessarily be hybrids between your plant and another that is not genetically identical to it. So they can never have exactly the same properties as the mother plant and varietal propagation is not possible in this way.
Get new plants by separating them
This type of propagation is not necessarily familiar to everyone, but it quickly produces very robust and somewhat larger young plants. The process is very simple: Look for a healthy mother plant that is producing new shoots on its rootstock near the ground. This happens quite often. Stack these shoots with an airy substrate mixture, for example fine crumbly soil mixed with some wood chips or peat substrate. This provides the necessary ventilation and moisture for roots to form. Repeat hilling several times throughout the summer as the young shoots grow. The bottom 20 cm should finally be covered with the substrate. If the summer is very dry, moisten it moderately if necessary.
In autumn the shoots should have taken root in their substrate. Use a sharp knife or rose scissors to separate them from the mother plant as deeply as possible. The rooted shoots must now be on oneprotected placeoverwinter. This means that they are placed in a planting hole with loose substrate and possibly protected from frost with a cover. This procedure is necessary because they would probably not survive being planted out. Next spring, when severe frosts are no longer expected, you can plant out your new cherry laurel plants as usual.
Multiply cherry laurel in a glass of water
A cherry laurel cutting can also be propagated in water without soil. For this purpose, a young shoot is selected. The container used should be darkened. It is filled with water and the cutting is ideally secured over the container so that it hangs freely in the water. With this method, too, it takes several weeks at around 20 °C for roots to form. The cuttings can be potted when the roots are a few centimeters long. They will be planted outdoors next spring.
Rooting on a shoot of the mother plant
Cherry laurel can be propagated by rooting on a shoot of the mother plant. With this method, a healthy shoot is selected. About 15 centimeters below the shoot tip, a 1 cm wide strip is peeled off up to the cambium. The wound is coated with a rooting hormone. Then at this point it is surrounded with a handful of moist cutting soil and wrapped in foil, creating a kind of bag that is open at the top. This can also be done with cling film, which ensures that the soil remains moist.
The bag is completely filled with cutting soil. If necessary, you can water from above, otherwise the opening should be closed with tape.The root formationyou have to control. If there are enough roots, the shoots can be separated from the mother plant and potted. To protect them from excessive water loss, they should be placed in a shady place with sufficiently high humidity (cold frame, plastic bag) for the first few days. You can plant them out next spring.
You can find more tips for pruning in autumn in the article: “Cut cherry laurel in October”
