Propagating cherry laurel: Tips & Instructions

The cherry laurel is one of the most popular evergreen ornamental and hedge shrubs. We will explain how you can most successfully multiply it yourself.

The cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) is very popular with us. It is prized for its glossy, evergreen leaves and the scent of its white flowers, which testify to its relationship to other trees of the Prunus genus, such as the flowering cherry. As bee pasture, it makes a valuable contribution to insect protection. Check out this article for another 10 bee-friendly plants.

Various types of cherry laurel also protect you and your garden from prying eyes. But what you may not have known: The cherry laurel is also extremely easy to propagate yourself. Below you will find a list of the possible methods and instructions for the different types of propagation.

Propagate cherry laurel: propagation by cuttings

This type of propagation is also used in tree nurseries because it is simple, productive and, in contrast to propagation via seeds, allows guaranteed varietal production. The first step is choosing the right mother plant. Of course, it should be he althy and sufficiently supplied with nutrients. The cuttings are cut in late summer. It is very important that the selected shoots are well mature, their tips should no longer be soft. This can only be achieved by avoiding high nitrogen doses in summer.

Between August and October you can check the firmness of the shoot tips and then cut them when they are firm. The cutting is cut off at an angle with a sharp knife and should be about 15 cm long.

Now the larger leaves are shortened to reduce water evaporation and maybe some are removed, leaving a leafless, bare area that can be stuck into the ground.

The shoot is placed in a 3:1 mixture of peat and sand (peat raised to pH 6.5 - 7.5 with lime) or in special soil for cuttings that can be bought in specialist shops. It isIt is important that the soil for the cuttings is low in nutrients, so do not use compost or even fertilizer. Our Plantura organic herb and seed soil is ideal for propagating cuttings. The pots used for propagation should have holes underneath so that excess water can drain off and no waterlogging occurs.

Proceed as follows when propagating cuttings:

1. Fill the pots with the dry soil to the brim. Now lift it several times up to 10 cm and let it fall from this height. Repeat the process five times. The substrate will collapse in this way and later provide the cutting with the necessary contact with the ground. Top up with more soil if necessary and compact again until you are comfortable with the level.
2. Now insert the prepared cutting at a slight angle and quite flat. If necessary, use a pricking stick or a thin pencil to make a hole for the cutting to enter. A few centimeters of the bare stem should be stuck in the substrate.
3. If you feel that the cutting is too loose and about to fall out, press it lightly into the soil. But don't press it too hard, otherwise not enough oxygen will get to the interface and rooting will be inhibited.
4. Now water the pots extensively. If you notice soil being washed away from the surface, you can sprinkle more soil loosely.

Now the culture vessel should be placed in a warm place (over 20 °C) with high humidity. Cold frames or propagation boxes, for example, are suitable for this. If you have put the cuttings in pots, you can also use a transparent plastic bag and fix it to the edge of the pot with a ribbon, for example. However, you should air them occasionally to prevent fungi from settling.

Make sure the moisture is even - neither waterlogging should form nor should the substrate dry out. After about four weeks the cuttings are rooted. At slightly lower temperatures it can also take a little longer. Separate the rooted cuttings into pots. In the spring the seedlings can be planted out as normal.

Propagate cherry laurel by cuttings:

• Select mature, firm shoots from he althy plants in late summer.
• Cut into 15 cm lengths, shorten leaves, remove some below.
• Culture Vesselsprepare with nutrient-poor soil for cuttings.
• Insert the cuttings flat and at an angle and then water them.
• Install at over 20 °C and increased humidity; Avoid dryness and waterlogging.
• It takes at least 4 weeks for the cuttings to root. Then separate into pots with normal potting soil and plant out in spring.

Propagating cherry laurel: sowing

If you already have a cherry laurel plant, you may have noticed that small new plants occasionally appear in their vicinity. This is because the cherry laurel multiplies independently through self-sowing. In theory, you can dig up these seedlings and plant them in a spot where you want a new shrub. But one thing to keep in mind: these little cherry laurel plants grew from seed. These seeds were formed through sexual pollination in the flower of your plant. And now comes the crucial point: During sexual reproduction, the genes of the parent plants are first mixed with each other and then with each other. In addition, the cherry laurel is a cross-pollinator, it cannot "pollinate itself" as some plants (e.g. peas, potatoes, French beans) can. Inevitably, the small seedlings must be hybrids of your plant and another that is not genetically identical to it. They can therefore never have exactly the same characteristics as the mother plant, so true-to-variety propagation is not possible in this way.

Propagate cherry laurel by seed:

• Seedlings are not identical to the mother plant
• Can be transplanted in spring or autumn

Propagating cherry laurels: offshoots using cracklets

This type of propagation is not necessarily familiar to everyone, but it quickly produces very robust and somewhat larger young plants. The process is very straightforward: in the spring, find a he althy mother plant that will produce new shoots on its rootstock, close to the ground. This happens quite often. Pile up these shoots with an airy substrate mixture, for example fine-grained soil mixed with some wood chips orpeat substrate. This provides the necessary ventilation and moisture for root formation.

Repeat piling up several times over the summer as the young shoot grows. The bottom 20 cm should eventually be covered with the substrate. If summer is very dry, moisten moderately if necessary.

By autumn the shoots should have taken root in their substrate. Separate them as deeply as possible from the mother plant with a sharp knife or pruning shears.

The rooted shoots are now driven into a sheltered place over the winter. This means that they are placed in a hollow with a loose substrate and possibly protected against frost with a cover. This procedure is necessary because they would probably not survive being planted out. The following spring, when no more severe frosts are expected, plant out your new cherry laurel plants as usual.

Propagating cherry laurels with cracklings:

• Selection of a he althy mother plant with native shoots in spring
• Ramp up the shoots with airy substrate; repeating the mounding as the shoot grows over the summer; possibly moisten
• Separate rooted shoots as deeply as possible from the mother plant in autumn
• Insert shoots in a sheltered place over the winter
• Plant out in spring when severe frost is unlikely

Propagating cherry laurel: removing moss or rooting in water

Cherry laurel can also be propagated by removing moss or by rooting in water. These two methods are less reliable than the first. However, for the sake of completeness, they are briefly introduced.

In the mossing method, a he althy shoot is selected in spring. About 15 centimeters below the tip of the shoot, a 1 cm wide strip is peeled off down to the cambium. The wound is coated with a rooting hormone. Then he is surrounded at this point with a handful of moist cuttings soil and wrapped with foil so that a kind of bag is formed that is open at the top. This can be done with plastic wrap, which will ensure the soil stays moist. The bag is completely filled with cuttings soil. If necessary, it can be watered from aboveotherwise the opening should be closed with a ribbon. Root formation must be controlled. If there are enough roots, the shoots can be separated from the mother plant and potted. To protect them from excessive water loss, they should be in a shady place with sufficiently high humidity (cold frame, plastic bag) for the first few days. They can be planted out next spring.

Propagate cherry laurel by removing moss:

• Slightly injure a shoot in spring; Coat injury with rooting hormone or "willow water"
• Surround the injury with a handful of moist moss or peat (pH 6.5-7.5), wrap with plastic wrap leaving an opening at the top
• Water if necessary, check for rooting after a few weeks
• Pot and keep shady and moist for the first few days
• Planting out next spring

A cherry laurel cutting can also be propagated in water, without any soil at all. For this purpose, a young shoot is selected in the spring. The vessel used should be darkened. It is filled with water and the cutting is ideally attached over the vessel so that it hangs freely in the water. With this method, too, it takes several weeks at around 20 °C before roots form. The cuttings are ready to be potted when the roots are a few inches long. They will be planted outdoors next spring.

Propagating cherry laurel in water:

• Pruning young shoots from he althy plants in spring
• Pour into a darkened vessel filled with water, set up at around 20 °C
• When the roots are a few centimeters long, pot into normal potting soil
• Planting out next spring

Tip: For more reliable and faster root development, previously prepared "willow water" can be used. It can be used as a substitute for rooting hormone as it also contains the hormones needed. For this purpose, young willow shoots are peeled, cut into pieces about two centimeters long and placed in water for 24 hours. After removing the pieces of willow, the "willow water" (also diluted) can be used for rooting.

Once your cherry laurel has rooted, the next step is to plant it out. how it works andYou can find helpful tips on planting cherry laurel in our special article.