All Cherry Laurels 10% Off This Week

Prunus laurocerasus West Coast Skip Laurel,

'Chestnut Hill' Cherry Laurel, & 

Prunus caroliniana Carolina Cherry Laurel

You might recognize the genus Prunus for its familiar edible fruiting trees including cherry, plum, apricot, nectarine, almond, and peach. Prunus is in the rose family and is characterized by five-petaled flowers that often bloom in spring. These blooms turn into a fruit botanically known as a drupe, or commonly known as a stone fruit. All of this is also true for cherry laurel, but the plant is grown for its ornamental value, rather than its edibility. All parts of the plant contain cyanogenic glycosides and are toxic to humans and animals. 

Cherry laurels are evergreen and most often used as a handsome screen. The species P. laurocerasus can even be used in shadier landscapes. Their fragrant springtime blooms—described by horticulturalist Michael Dirr as “sickeningly fragrant"—develop into drupes. These fruits are loved by Cedar waxwings and robins. 

But wait, I thought you said the plant is toxic to animals…how can birds eat the fruit?!

The plant has a trait known as unripe fruit toxicity, a plant defense mechanism that allows fruit to only be safe for consumption when the seeds are fully developed. This increases the chances of germination once dispersed. So birds eat the fruit when the flesh is ripe, at the time when toxic compounds are at their lowest, and are able to pass the seed whole without breaking open the toxic seed. Nature for the win! And the real upside to having toxic leaves?  A tried-and-true deer proof evergreen. Finally, a hedge you can count on to deter deer browsing!  

Many of our customers have a hard time finding cherry laurels commercially available at local nurseries and that can be due to several reasons, many of which we also combat here at Painters Greenhouse. Container grown cherry laurels take time to reach a proper size since container conditions stunt growth times. This is one shrub that would really prefer to be in the ground and not in a pot. Cherry laurels are also intolerant of soggy, wet soil conditions and if we have a wet spring or summer a young container-grown shrub can succumb to root rot if inadequate drainage is present. Nurseries often irrigate with overhead sprinklers, which can often cause unsightly, circular holes in the foliage, known as shot-hole disease caused by fungal pathogens and bacterial leaf spot. The good news is that shot-hole disease is not lethal or detrimental to the long-term health of cherry laurel shrubs. Once planted in a landscape with decent drainage, they are generally adaptive to hot and cold temperatures and humidity. 

Note: Prunus laurocerasus is native to southeast Europe and southwest Asia, it can be considered invasive in the northwest US, but not in the southeast. Prunus caroliniana is native to the coastal plains of the southeastern US. While native, it can grow aggressively, but is considered a great alternative to invasive privet.

This fall season at Painters Greenhouse we have the following cherry laurels available:

Cherry Laurel ‘Chestnut Hill’ Prunus laurocerasus

A tight, compact selection of the Otto Luyken cherry laurel. This slow growing shrub can provide an easy-care low hedge. Increased disease resistance to shot-hole disease.  

• USDA Growing Zones: 6-9

• Height: 3-5’ 

• Spread: 4-6’

• Sun Exposure: Prefers partial shade in our warm region of the southeast

• Soil Needs:  Thrives in fertile, moist, well-drained soil, but tolerates poor, sandy, or clay soils. Tolerant of dry shade.

• 2G pots now $28.80

West Coast Skip Laurel Prunus laurocerasus ‘Schipkaensis’

Goblet-shaped form of upright growth, where height is most often twice the width. Lower branches are a bit loose, if the desired effect is dense foliage from the top down, be sure to plant lower shrubs in the foreground of the planting site. Once established in the landscape (typically the second or third year) and under optimal conditions the growth rate can be 1-3’ per year! 

• USDA Growing Zones: 6-9

• Height: 10-15’ tall

• Spread:  5-7’ wide

• Sun Exposure: Full shade, part shade, part sun – very versatile with light needs!

• Soil Needs: Very adaptable – tolerant of dry/poor soils, alkaline or acidic soil. The only requirement is that the soil drains well and the shrub is not in standing water. It may need more water in hot summers.

• 2G pots now $27.00

Carolina Cherry Laurel Prunus caroliniana

Native to the southeastern coastal plain, including North Carolina. Widely used in the South as a tall screen-–even by the early colonists at Williamsburg. Due to its fast growth (1-2’ per year) and large, mature size, it should not be planted against a residence. Plant the Carolina cherry laurel in areas where it can naturalize and outgrow its boundary and form a thicket that can support a wide range of wildlife year-round. 

According to the National Wildlife Federation, native cherry laurels (and other native Prunus species) are ranked second just after oak trees as a top host plant with 317 species of butterflies and moths using them as a caterpillar nursery. Though often argued to be too aggressive in tidy landscapes, it is considered a beneficial native and Doug Tallamy considers the native Carolina cherry laurel to be a high value keystone plant for birds in the NC piedmont. 

• USDA Growing Zones: 7-10

• Size: 10-40’ tall and wide

• Sun Exposure: Full sun to part sun

• Soil Needs: Thrives in well-drained soil

• 1G pots now $19.80