Cherry Laurel wind damage

I have recently spent quite a lot of money having a cherry laurel hedge planted. The gardener planted 45 laurels as I wanted a quick growing hedge to give some privacy. However only 2 weeks later storm Eowyn hit and damaged quite a few of the plants and some of them were semi uprooted. I contacted the gardener and he promised to come round as soon as he could to push them back into the soil as they were bent over.He assured me that they are very hardy and they would be absolutely fine. It took him 2 weeks to come back and he secured the plants and added some high quality feed. They are currently looking really bad a lot of the leaves are dry and brown and all the plants are very droopy. I'm really concerned that they are dying and have contacted the gardener again to voice my concerns but he is still insisting that they will bounce back and by May the damage will reverse. The wind damage looks to me irreversible and when I asked him if I should remove the dead leaves he said no and to leave them to drop off naturally. I have spent nearly £400 on the plants alone and can't afford to replace them so I'm hoping for some reassurance please. I'm attaching photos of how they looked when just planted on 8/1/25 and how they looked after the storm on 24/1/25 and how they look now.

 

Hi

sorry to hear ..

Where they barerooted or from pots.

they should of been staked or even a bamboo cane added when they were planted

they are hardy plants and a living thing it wasn’t the gardeners fault that we had such a bad storm as normally they would of been ok , two weeks is late to sort out .. the brown leaves could be several things , icy winds and frozen ground can cause browning of laurel leaves.

Did you employ the gardener to make over your front garden and they bought the plants ?

with plants you have to give them a opertunity to settle in and unless a branch is snapped I would leave alone for now

Hope that helps a little

Spruce

 

The ones that have been blown over need bringing back upright and as @Spruce says need support and firming in around the roots.
The soil looks a bit like loose fresh topsoil I just wonder what is underneath.

Feeding will have no effect as they don't appear to be taking up moisture.
They may recover but I get the feeling there will be a fair amount of die back.

Are you near the coast?
Just wondering if it's salt burn from the storm.

 

Hi yes I live on the coast the ground is sandy but he bought good quality soil to put on top. He has now brought them all back upright and he says they are guaranteed for 12 months so hoping I can get them replaced if they don't survive. How long do you think I should give them to revive before I contact the suppliers for replacement? Thank you

 

Hi Spruce they were bare rooted and supplied by the gardener and he says they are under a 12 month guarantee. I'm just wondering how long I should give them to recover before I think of putting a claim in for replacement.

 

Hi Spruce they were bare rooted and supplied by the gardener and he says they are under a 12 month guarantee. I'm just wondering how long I should give them to recover before I think of putting a claim in for replacement.

 

I think you may need to wait until mid spring for signs of new growth, but if they do survive you may have to cut then back fairly hard.
Being bare root has not helped imo, potted plants would have been better even if you doubled the spacing, but that's just an opinion.

 

Not sure what they would say regarding the guarantee due to the storm damage.

They could possibly say it was beyond their control and not a fault of the plants supplied.

 

That's what I'm worried about

 

All you can do ATM is probably just make sure they are firm and not rocking around in the wind.

 

I agree, here it's just waiting now. Plants need a time to get roots growing. Do they get enough water? Did it rain? I would water and compact soil around the plants if they don't get a decent amount of rain.
Overall, I think, you'd regret in a few years planting them. Cherry laurels are the beasts I don't think it will be possible to keep them as a narrow hedge.

 

It is fairly common practice to have run a single wire strand to stakes along such a row to tie in and support while the hedge establishes. Also, typically one buys , say 6ft plants and cut back to say, 4ft to reduce wind drift. This could still be done. Agree to tread down and water for 6 months at least.

 

My initial thought was that the plants look to be very closely spaced. Normally a gap of 2-3 feet is suitable. Also being bare rooted the plants should have been reduced in height by at least a third to reduce the pressure on the roots and reduce the likelihood of wind rock and damage. I also wonder whether they were correctly soaked before planting.

I would consider asking your gardener to replant at the correct spacing, using the best of the plants and reduce them in size, provide support and keep them well watered. They really are normally tough plants but they can grow to almost tree like proportions and need space and deep soil to do well.

 

Hi

you’re getting a lot of advice .

as somone has already mentioned the variety of hedge for your front garden was not the best choice , the cheapest choice would be a laurel as it’s green 12 months of the year but saying that once it gets established should help prying eyes out but please be aware councils normally have a height restriction on hedges that sit next to a pedestrian highway ie pavement. So please check out for your area with your local council. (What eventually height did u imagine)

I would give to the end of May and if you not happy speak to him then.

The downside at times with people who advertise garden makeovers are not gardeners and have a basic knowledge. Where I live I have been asked on several occasions and where I worked unfortunately 90% after the work was completed to ask my opinion.

Maintenance wise from yourself. Newly planted and bare root this first year is so important that they are watered weekly and maybe twice a week during the summer. [ I would not feed this year with bare rooted shrubs as this may burn the roots].

Spruce

 

If they were blown over or out then there is a good chance that the roots dried out. It's very important when establishing bare roots to make sure that the roots are well hydrated when planted and then kept nice and moist until established. If the roots were exposed to the air then you could see the plant die off or really suffer. Unfortunately things will have been made worse by the wind which can really dry plants and if they aren't rooted well then it makes things more problematic.

How high do you wish for them to grow? The problem with laurel is they make a great thick hedge that wants to reach the sky and this makes it hard to keep them compact. At best you will need to cut it more often to keep things in check but it doesn't look like you have much space to work with there.