How to Grow and Care for Bay Laurel

Bay laurel is an evergreen shrub or tree native to the Mediterranean area, best known for it's leaves which are widely used as a kitchen seasoning. Pointed oval leaves are deep, glossy green with a leathery texture and have little aroma either fresh or dried. But when added to cooking liquids bay leaf releases essential oils that add a peppery, minty and slightly bitter flavor to soups, stews and sauces.

Bay laurel (Laurel nobilis) is also rich in symbolism dating to early Greek civilization with dozens of examples found throughout history. It represents a number of virtues including achievement, wisdom, victory, and everlasting love. Romans adopted the symbolism crowning their emperors with laurel wreaths. The word baccalaureate stems from the Greek "laureate" for laurel tree and Latin "bacca" for berry.

Bay Laurel is a slow-growing tree best planted in spring. It's dioecious which means both male and female plants are needed to produce flowers and berries. When pollinated, small yellow flowers develop into dark purple berries in the fall. Natural growth habit produces a medium- to large-sized tree with multiple stems that form a dense green pyramidal canopy. Bay laurel accepts heavy pruning, so you just as often see it as a shrub or container plant.

Bay laurel is somewhat easy to care for indoors or outdoors with potted plants generally kept to 4 to 8 feet tall, while unpruned landscape plants can grow from 30 to 60 feet tall. Though the leaves are often used in cooking, they are toxic to cats, dogs, and horses.

Bay Laurel Care

Bay laurel can be grown as a pruned garden shrub or full-sized single- or- multi-stemmed landscape tree. They are commonly grown in pots.

• Put a potted bay laurel plant in a sunny window, one that is south- or west-facing. Outside, it should be placed in partial shade.
• Plant in average, well-draining soil. When grown in a container (as it usually is), use a general-purpose potting mix.
• Water so that the soil stays moist.
• Moved potted bay laurels between indoor and outdoor locations as seasonal weather dictates.
• Provide bay laurels kept as houseplants with extra outdoor heat and light in summer.

Light

Keep your indoor bay laurel tree near a sunny window in winter. Avoid exposure to drafts and heat from appliances and air ducts. Outdoor plants prefer partial shade but will tolerate full sun. In areas with hot, dry summers, some afternoon shade is ideal.

The plant produces the best-flavored leaves if it receives full sun for at least a portion of the year.

Soil

Plant outdoor bay laurel trees in average garden soil that drains well. The ideal pH range is 6 to 7 but laurel bay is very versatile and will tolerate a range from 4.5 to 8.3. as well as loamy, sandy, and even clay soils.

Bay laurels grown in containers can be planted in an ordinary commercial potting mix.

Water

Water bay laurel plant regularly to keep the soil moist but not overly wet. Bay laurel roots are shallow and frequent watering could cause root rot to occur. Allow the soil to dry somewhat between waterings but do not let it dry out completely.

Temperature and Humidity

In USDA growing zones below 8, bring your bay laurel indoors for the winter and give it relatively cool but bright conditions.

If the tree begins dropping leaves, it lacks sufficient humidity. Use the leaves in cooking, and consider installing a room humidifier to increase humidity levels in your home.

Fertilizer

Feed a container-grown bay laurel plant in the spring using a balanced organic fertilizer, such as fish emulsion or kelp. Because bay laurel is slow-growing, it doesn’t require a great deal of food when grown outdoors in the landscape.

Bay laurel plants grown in containers, however, need supplemental fertilizer. It also helps to refresh the top few inches of soil each spring, being careful not to damage the shallow roots.

Types of Bay Laurel

It’s important that you grow plants labeled Laurus nobilis if you plan to use the leaves for cooking and eating. Other plants are labeled with the common names bay and sweet bay, but these are not necessarily edible and are sometimes even toxic.

There are also a few ornamental cultivars of Laurus nobilis that might not have quite the same taste as the pure species plant. Here are some of the better true bay laurel cultivars.

• Laurus nobilis f. angustifolia: Also known as willow-leaf laurel, the narrow leaves of this cultivar are prized for their attractive texture when the tree is pruned.
• Laurus nobilis 'Aurea': This variety exhibits new leaves that are bright yellow and aromatic.
• Laurus nobilis 'Undulata': With this cultivar, the leaf edges are rippled or wavy, making it a particularly ornamental tree.
• Laurus nobilis 'Saratoga': This is a smaller tree when planted in the landscape, growing to a maximum of 25 feet. The leaves are more rounded and lighter in color. It makes a good variety for food seasoning leaves.

Pruning

Pruning a bay laurel is straightforward and done to control the size and shape of your plant. New dense growth will emerge from wherever you snip off the branches. Pruning is best done when the tree is not actively growing, from late winter to early spring before new growth emerges. You can prune as much or as little as you like to keep the tree small or to create a topiary artwork.

Propagating Bay Laurel

Bay laurel is relatively easy to propagate by rooting softwood cuttings. This is a slow-growing plant, so be patient. You'll need a small hand pruner, small pots, coarse sand, rooting hormone, and plastic coverings. Then follow these steps.

1. In summer, use sterile pruners to take 6-inch cuttings from green, pliable branches.
2. Fill small pots with coarse, moist sand, then dip the tip of each cutting into rooting hormone, and plant it in its container.
3. Cover containers loosely with plastic, securing it with rubber bands.
4. Place containers in a warm location with bright indirect light.
5. Within a month or two roots should develop. Tug gently on the cutting and if you feel resistance roots have formed. Remove plastic covering and continue growing the cuttings until they are large enough for a permanent pot or an outdoor garden location.
   

Potting and Repotting Bay Laurel

Bay laurel makes a popular container plant that can live for decades. To keep its size in check, use a relatively small container but one with a broad enough base to prevent the tree from toppling over in the wind. A 24-inch pot will accommodate a 5- to 6-foot tree. Grow the plant in ordinary commercial potting mix.

Bay laurel grows best when it's a little cramped in its pot, even to the point of roots starting to poke out the bottom. You shouldn’t need to repot more than once every five years.

Overwintering

Potted plants moved outdoors for summer should be brought indoors as temperatures begin to dip below 50°F. A plant that grows fine in a partial shade outdoor location will want more sunlight in the winter—give it a sunny window or patio door.

In warm-weather zones where your bay laurel is growing in the landscape, no winter protection is needed, though fall and winter are good times to do any pruning.

Common Pests

For the most part, bay laurel is pest-free. In fact, the plant and its leaves are often used to deter pests from other plants and in kitchen pantries.

Scale ca be a problem and moths sometimes lay eggs between two leaves and fuse them with a cottony fluff. If you see two leaves that appear to be stuck together, gently peel them apart and remove the eggs or larva. Any number of other pests common to indoor houseplants can also affect bay laurel plants, especially mealybugs and spider mites, both of which are best treated with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap.

These plants have some susceptibility to fungal diseases:

• Anthracnose causes the tips of the leaves to turn brown or black, then gradually die. Remove affected leaves with sterilized pruners, and treat the soil with a fungicide (anthracnose is an internal infection). Severely infected plants will need to be destroyed.
• Powdery mildew creates a whitish residue on the leaves of the plant. Treat the plant with neem oil or another horticultural oil. Improving air circulation and keeping soil surfaces clean often prevent the disease.
• Phytophthora root rot is a known problem for bay laurel plants. It is a fungus-like organism that can cause the slow, gradual collapse of the plant. Early symptoms include the appearance of dark, gummy streaks on the bark, usually low on the stems. Fungicides may help control the disease, along with regular replacement of the top few inches of potting soil.

Common Problems With Bay Laurel

While this is a fairly trouble-free plant, both as an indoor plant and outdoor specimen, some common problems may occur.

Winter Dieback

Winter dieback can happen with both garden grown and potted bay laurels that are left outdoors too long as winter approaches. If your bay laurel is hit by a light frost, the leaves will probably turn brown and dry. Often the tree will recover on its own the following spring.

If your tree does show signs of die-back in the spring, prune the stems down to below the damage. In extreme cases, cut the entire plant down to about 6 inches and allow new shoots to form from the base.

Leaf Drop

It is normal for a bay laurel plant to drop some leaves shortly after it is moved indoors from an outdoor location. Don't worry if this happens. If the leaf drop is also accompanied by spotting on the leaves, the plant might have a foliar fungus that needs treating with fungicide.

Cracked or Peeling Bark

Most common with landscape specimens but also possible with potted plants, a bay laurel that shows cracking or peeling bark might be suffering from rapid changes in moisture levels or temperatures. These plants like fairly steady temperatures and constant moisture levels. This problem is rarely fatal.

Yellow or Brown Leaves

Yellow leaves usually occur because a bay laurel is receiving too much moisture; brown leaves happen because it's not getting enough water. Less commonly, insufficient feeding might cause yellowing leaves.