Laurel Sapling Back From the Dead

Hello all,
A friend of mine with a gigantic laurel tree next to his kithchen dug up and gave me a little sapling (about 2.5 inches tall) that was growing at the base of the tree. I rushed it home to plant.

At the moment of transplanting, it was about 2.5 inches of stem and 3 small leaves (.75 inch each) popping out of the top.

A series of unfortunate events have put the guy through a lot.
1. The person responsible for watering our plants while on vacation last summer (2009) didn't come, and the poor things was waterless for a few weeks.

2. During our winter holiday vacation, a massive storm came through and our gutters overflew, the gushing stream of water that then fell from up there went straight into the Laurels pot. By the time we had gotten back, all the soil was gone and all that was left was the sapling and roots.

I retransplanted the sapling with few hopes. 2 of the three original leaves had shriveled up and fallen off and the remaining one wasn't looking too good.

But then, just a few weeks ago, from the base of the sapling (about 1/2 inch up) sprouted 1, then 2 new leaves!!!

The original leaf is looking a bit on the worn side (next to the vibrant green of the new leaves, I'm not surprised!) and I have not seen any new action from the remaining stem.

My question: Should I prune off the old part of the sapling and see what the younger half does? I would like this sapling to grow into a tree some day and would like any advice on how I should treat it at this moment.



Thank you all very much!!

Take care,
Paul

 

Welcome to the forum Thanatos.
Yes, Laurel is tough stuff and your little plant shows just how tough.
I would be inclined to leave the older part of the plant alone just now and wait and see if it does anything - you never know.
If or once you're convinced it's not going to do anything then take it off.
I hope it grows big and strong for you after all its trials and tribulations.

 

Hi Thanatos42,

You could leave it as it is, in the hope that there are some supressed lateral buds that may decide to pop through at some point. See what it's like in a month or so and take it from there.

 

Thank you for your advice! The little guy is a fighter and I can't wait to see it grow big and tall (and hopefully sit outside my kitchen door one day so i can grab bay leaves at will!)

Thanks again for replying.

Cheers,
Paul

 

Erm... only if it's a bay laurel (Laurus nobilis), and not a gigantic laurel (Prunus or Aucuba sp.) as you stated in your first post.

 

Paul, any chance of a pic of the leaf/leaves? We don`t want you poisoning yourself, afterall.:gnthb::lollol:

 

Mrs Flinty and I used to visit one of her aunts and have a meal with her from time to time. On one occasion, this aunt mentioned that she'd added some bay leaves "from the garden" to the meal we'd just eaten.
"Strange", I thought, "I didn't notice a bay tree (laurus nobilis) in Auntie's garden" so I asked her to point out which shrub or tree had provided the leaves.
"That one" she said pointing to a cherry laurel (prunus laurocerasus and poisonous!!!).
Sometimes, correct terminology is very important.

 

Hmmm, thanks for pointing that out.

My friend who gave it to me is a professional cook, and has his plant in an rather large pot outside just in front of the door leading to his kitchen. On many occasions he's grabbed a few leaves to toss into a stew or soup. As my sapling came from the base of this tree, I think it likely that it's the same genus/species.

I'm pretty sure I have a picture of my friend's laurel that I can throw up here. Can you all tell from the picture I included in the original post?
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4760020106_037be0fe2f_o.jpg)

Thanks to everyone for pointing this out and for your interest in our health! You're a great crowd here!

Cheers,
Paul

 

Jings Thanatos, Laurus nobilis is not nearly as hardy as Laurus Prunus and will need a bit more care and protection.
Do not treat nobilis like prunus, or eat prunus, unlike you want to invoke your name for both of you.:wink: