Landlubbers sickly Laurel-update

Hi folks, well we have really worked on the hedge, cutting out all the sickly bits, it has had one hell of a pruning!
Before, you kindly advised me about what to do next.
Mulching???? Ideas please as we have a wildlife garden and don't get too many lawn clippings.
Also, feed? we used Bone meal about a month ago. How often should we feed this hedge? Is there something better we could use? We have had an offer of Horse manure for the winter, is that a good or bad idea please. bit out of our depth with this one, Many thanks Jan.

 

Horse manure will certainly benefit it.

As for feeding, what sort of soil are you on? Personally id say feed every coule of months. Pelleted chicken manure is both effective and economic.

 

Cheers for that Paul, the soil is quite loamy, Jan

 

In that case two month feedings with bonemeal or chicken pellets will be fine.

If you were on very sandy soil the nutrients could be washing away and something slow relese like osmocote granules more suitable hence the question.

 

Thanks, any ideas about what to use as a mulch? it is quite a large area
ta Jan

 

I would avoid high nitrogen material as this will lead to a lot of soft growth, which is more vulnerable to attack by pests and disease, so it could encourage a recurrence of the original problem. So avoid horse manure unless it has been well rotted. Not sure about the chicken manure, although I suspect this too has plenty of nitrogen in it. I would go for a balanced general fertiliser and not too much of it at this time of the year since growth will be slowing down. Feed again in the spring when growth is re-starting.

 

Cheers Beechleaf, any ideas about mulch? many thanks Jan

 

Hi Jan

If you're mulching as a feed, then home-produced compost or leaf mould is good because they're not too rich.

But since you can provide feed with chicken manure pellets or bonemeal, I wouldn't worry about a mulch at this time of the year. If you used a durable mulch intended for moisture retention like, say, chipped bark, it'll just get in the way when you want to feed the hedge.

The laurel hedge in my last garden was effectively "self-mulching" because it seemed to attract and hold all the dead leaves from miles and miles around. I bet you'll find that when autumn gets under way, the same will happen with your hedge.

 

Yes that is true, but of course we do have this horrendous leaf damage at mo, so trying to minimise spreading the leaves, what I mean is there is about 80% damaged leaves. So trying to keep the undergrowth as 'clean' as possible to give good regrowth and healthy foliage a chance? You should see it out there now, thoroughly cut back. Jan

 

Mulching will improve the soil structure of free-draining soils or waterlogged soils, so I far as can see it's nearly always a good thing. I would suggest a depth of a couple of inches or so on the surface under the hedge would be about right. Enough to keep the weeds down, and not enough to cause problems by burying the trunks of the bushes. Well-rotted mulches usually contain very littly nutrition (i.e. nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus) so they don't cause excessive growth. Put it on now and it will have been absorbed within a few months

 

Thanks Beechleaf, I will let you and everyone know how things go. Jan