How Many Portuguese Laurel Plants Do You Need for a Hedge?
If you've settled on Portuguese laurel for your new hedge, the next question is almost always the same: how many plants will you actually need to fill the space? Plant too few and you could be left with gaps that take years to fill. Plant too many, too close together, and the plants will have to compete unnecessarily for space, light, water and nutrients as the hedge develops. That isn't ideal for the long-term establishment of the hedge, and it also means spending money on plants you simply don't need.
The good news is that Portuguese laurel is fairly forgiving and spacing doesn't need to be an exact science. A few simple rules of thumb will help you work out roughly how many plants you need, giving each one enough room to establish properly while still creating a dense, even hedge.
The short answer: Portuguese laurel spacing
For most garden hedges, plant Portuguese laurel around 60cm (2ft) apart, measured centre to centre. This is the Portuguese laurel spacing we use ourselves at the nursery and the one we'd generally recommend if you're growing a hedge to around 6-8ft (1.8-2.4m), which is a common height for garden privacy.
If you're aiming for a lower hedge of around 2-4ft (60cm-1.2m), you can usually plant a little closer, at around 40-50cm apart. If you want a much taller hedge, perhaps 12-15ft (3.5-4.5m), we'd generally give the plants more room and consider spacings of around 90cm to 1m.
Why spacing changes with hedge height
The right spacing for Portuguese laurel depends less on the size of the plants when you buy them and more on what you ultimately want your hedge to look like. In other words, think about the finished height and density of the hedge rather than simply the size of the plants you're putting in the ground.
As a general rule, if you're aiming for a Portugal laurel hedge around 6-8ft (1.8-2.4m) in height, we recommend planting at around 60cm (2ft) apart, measured centre to centre - from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. This is the most common spacing for garden hedges, giving you a good level of eye-height privacy while allowing each plant enough room to develop.
Giving plants a little more space is particularly useful when you're growing a larger hedge. Each plant needs room for its root system to develop without excessive competition from neighbouring plants, giving it better access to water and nutrients. There also needs to be sufficient space around the foliage for good light and air circulation. Spacing isn't an exact science, but 60cm is a good rule of thumb for the majority of garden hedges.
We also speak to plenty of customers who want to grow Portuguese laurel much taller, perhaps to 12-15ft (3.5-4.5m), and there's nothing wrong with doing that. For a hedge of this height, we'd generally increase the spacing further, to around 90cm or even 1m between plants, measured centre to centre. This can leave fairly substantial gaps when the hedge is first planted, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Over time, the additional space gives each plant more room to establish a substantial root system, helping it access the water and nutrients it needs to support the larger plant above ground.
For a lower border hedge of around 2-4ft (60cm-1.2m), the opposite applies. A smaller hedge doesn't need to develop such a large root system, so plants can be spaced more closely, typically around 40-50cm apart. This helps them fill the available space more quickly. If plants are spaced too far apart when you're creating a low hedge, it can take considerably longer for the gaps between them to close.
So, when deciding how far apart to plant your Portuguese laurel, think first about the height and appearance you ultimately want to achieve - not simply the size of the plants you're starting with.
Working out how many plants you need
Once you've decided on your spacing, working out how many plants you need is straightforward:
Number of plants = length of hedge in metres ÷ spacing in metres
There's no need to add an extra plant for the end of the run. The spacing is measured from the centre of one plant to the centre of the next, with the first and last plants normally positioned approximately half your chosen spacing in from either end of the hedge.
Don't worry if the calculation doesn't give you an exact whole number. Round it to the nearest plant and then adjust the spacing slightly when you come to planting. For example, a 10m hedge planted at 60cm centres gives you 16.67 plants, so 16 or 17 plants would both be perfectly reasonable. A few centimetres either way between plants won't make any meaningful difference to the finished hedge.
The important thing is to use the spacing as a practical guide rather than feeling that every plant has to be positioned to the exact centimetre.
|
Hedge length |
Plants needed (60cm apart) |
Plants needed (45cm apart) |
|
3m |
5 |
7 |
|
5m |
8 |
11 |
|
10m |
16-17 |
22 |
|
20m |
33 |
44-45 |
A single row is usually all you need
For most garden and boundary hedges, a single row of Portuguese laurel hedges at the spacings we've recommended above is all you need to create a dense, solid screen.
We do sometimes get asked whether planting a double, staggered row will produce a better hedge. It will give you more plants and potentially more immediate screening, but for most gardens we don't think it's necessary. You're effectively doubling the number of plants you need and potentially spending twice as much on your hedge, when a well-spaced single row will develop into a perfectly good screen in its own right.
A double row will also ultimately produce a much wider hedge. That may be an advantage if you have plenty of room and specifically want a substantial, deep hedge, but it can just as easily be a disadvantage if it means sacrificing more of your garden space.
Unless you have a particular reason for wanting the additional width or you're especially keen to achieve maximum screening as quickly as possible, we'd generally recommend putting your budget into a good-quality single row rather than simply doubling the number of plants.
How quickly will the gaps close?
Portuguese laurel is a moderate grower, which is why it holds its shape so well once established. It's noticeably slower and neater than cherry laurel, which is why so many people choose Portuguese laurel when they want a more formal, refined finish without constant trimming. Left untrimmed, you can expect it to put on roughly a foot (30cm) of growth a year. This means that a hedge planted at 60cm apart typically knits together into a continuous screen within one to two growing seasons, depending on the size of plant you start with and how well it's watered in that first year.
If you want a quicker result, starting with larger plants, rather than planting smaller ones closer together, is usually the better investment, since it gives you both height and width from day one rather than relying entirely on new growth to close the gaps.
A few things that affect the final result
- Plant size at planting: Larger, more established plants fill their allotted space faster, so you can stick to the recommended spacing even if you want quicker results, rather than automatically planting closer together.
- Soil and site: Portuguese laurel tolerates most soil types and copes with sun, partial shade or even fairly deep shade, but it dislikes waterlogged ground. On a poorer or more exposed site, growth may be a little slower in the first year or two.
- How you'll trim it: Hedges trimmed regularly tend to thicken up faster than those left to grow freely, as trimming encourages denser branching. Take a look at our guide to mastering Portuguese laurel hedge trimming.
- End use: A formal, tightly clipped hedge and a more relaxed, informal screen can use similar spacings - it's the trimming and management afterwards that largely determine the finished look.
Getting your numbers right
Measure your hedge line accurately, including any gates or other features you'll need to plant around, decide on your target height and use the spacing guide above to work out approximately how many plants you'll need. Remember, the spacings we've given are practical guidelines rather than exact measurements, so don't worry about being a few centimetres either way when you come to planting.
If you're not sure how many Portuguese laurel plants your hedge will need, our team is always happy to help. Get in touch with your measurements and we'll help you work out a suitable quantity and plant size for your project.
Ready to start your Portuguese laurel hedge?
Once you've worked out roughly how many plants you need, take a look at our full range of Portuguese laurel plants. We can also advise you on which sizes and types of plant are looking best at the time of year you're planting, and which we think will give you the best chance of achieving the hedge you're looking for.
Portuguese laurel is one of our major production crops and we grow many thousands of plants ourselves each year here at our nursery in Tilford, in the Surrey Hills. We grow them in a range of sizes in our fields before they are either lifted and sold as root-balled plants during the root-ball season, or lifted and potted so that we can continue supplying established Portuguese laurel once the root-ball season has finished.
That's an important distinction. We're nurserymen and growers, rather than simply buying in finished Portuguese laurel plants from another nursery and selling them on. Because we've grown and cared for the plants ourselves, we know where they've come from, how they've been grown and how the different crops and sizes are developing.
We see our Portuguese laurel crops every day, so when you speak to us you're getting practical, first-hand advice about the plants we actually have on the nursery. We can tell you what's looking particularly good at that point in the season and help you choose the size and type of plant that we think will give you the best chance of achieving the hedge you want.
Whether you're starting a new hedge from scratch or looking for larger, more established plants for a quicker result, get in touch with us if you'd like some advice. We'll be happy to talk through your project and recommend the Portuguese laurel plants we think are best suited to it.