Ideal height: up to 3.5m/10ft
Growth rate: 30-60cm/1-2ft a year
Position & planting: fertile, moist well drained soil in full sun-partial shade
Perfect for… smaller gardens that require a tall dense screen
A variety of Cherry Laurel, Prunus laurocerasus Genolia is a Swiss evergreen shrub, ideal for mass planting as hedging or screening due to its dense, erect, columnar growing habit.
Slower growing than common laurel, it displays shiny, dark green, fairly elongated foliage and in spring bears erect racemes/clusters of white flowers, which are attractive to bees and other wildlife. In autumn, some glossy black (inedible) fruits and (poisonous if eaten) seed capsules follow. It’s compact growth forms a narrow hedge, perfect for the smaller garden or where space is an issue. Trimming and pruning requirements are also reduced as a result.
Plants can be spaced around a metre apart, or less for a quicker forming screen, and in the right conditions it will have an ultimate height of around 3.5m/11.4ft and width of 0.8m/2.6ft.
Easy to grow in a moderately fertile, moist but well drained soil, this great hedging shrub appreciates full sun or partial shade. As mentioned, it requires little or no pruning — hard pruning certainly isn’t necessary. It’s very hardy, termed ‘snow proof’ by its native Switzerland.