Bay Tree Laurus nobilis

Bay is a dense evergreen from the Mediterranean that will sit as a multi-stemmed shrub or run up into a small tree if nobody stops it. The leaf is the distinctive part: stiff, leathery, dark and matt, holding the aromatic oil that goes into stocks, braises and marinades, so every trim produces something worth drying. Because it breaks readily from old wood and holds a face between cuts, it is used here mainly as a clipped hedge, a topiary ball or cone, and a long-standing pot specimen.

A slow tree that behaves like a hedge plant

Bay suits most Australian gardens outside the wet tropics and the coldest tablelands. Mature plants handle light frost, young ones are damaged by it, so give them shelter and a stake for the first couple of winters. Coastal gardens are fine as long as the plant is not in the front line of salt wind. What it will not tolerate is heavy, wet ground. Bay carries a fine root system, and in clay that stays saturated over winter those roots rot, the foliage yellows from the bottom of the plant upwards, and the whole thing stalls for a season before it dies. That is the failure this species is most often lost to. Plant into free-draining soil, raise the bed if the site is flat and heavy, and keep water low to moderate once the roots have taken hold. In a pot, use a coarse open mix rather than a fine one, and repot or root prune every few years before the rootball turns solid. For a clipped hedge, set plants about 50 to 60 cm apart and start shaping from the first season rather than letting them run up bare-legged.

Bay against the other clipped evergreens here

The obvious comparison is Baby Bay, a compact selection of the same species with shorter internodes and smaller leaves. Baby Bay is the one for a pair of clipped balls beside a door or a low edge around a herb bed, because it stays dense without constant work. Buy the straight species instead when you want height: a screening hedge you stand behind, a standard with a real trunk, or eventually a small shade tree. If the job is purely a boundary screen and nobody is cooking with it, Green Rocket makes a narrower column and takes shearing harder. Bay is the pick when you want the kitchen crop and the formal shape from one plant. More clipped evergreens sit in hedges.

Trimming and feeding a bay

Clip in late spring once the first flush has hardened, and again in late summer if the shape has moved. Avoid trimming into late autumn, since the soft growth that follows is what frost and bay sucker both punish. Bay sucker is the pest to know, a psyllid that thickens and curls the leaf margins in spring, after which they yellow and drop. Pick affected leaves off as they appear. Feed potted plants with a controlled-release fertiliser in early spring and a liquid feed monthly through the growing season. Plants in open ground need far less, usually one spring application and mulch kept clear of the trunk.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 2 sizes, from 12L up to 30L, priced from $90.95 to $209.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. These mid-range sizes balance establishment speed against immediate presence, and they are the usual choice for general garden planting. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to fast growing screening plants.