Did you say where you lived? What zone? Are deer an issue? Will you be able to water during droughty periods?

Hi Dave,

Sorry, I thought for some reason I had already included that in my profile. This is Long Island, NY, zone 7 basically. And yes, I have sprinkler/hose access in the area. Deer have only rarely been spotted. Last winter, a willow sapling got some rubbing, but that was the first time that's ever happened.

Joe

My Schip laurels are about 8 or 9 feet high now and still growing. They need supplemental irrigation during droughty periods, but can make a nice dense, if somewhat course, hedge. Otto Luyken laurels can also get tall with shearing on the sides. Not quite as tall as quickly as Schip, but they are finer in texture (and more prone to scale if stressed -- at least in our region).

I have no experience with Hicks Yew.

Sounds like a good use for pieris 'forest flame'

I thought for some reason I had already included that in my profile.

==>> you need to include it in the name that appears ... profile page i believe ...

all those words.. how about a pic ...

ken

Here in my part of USDA 8 'Otto Luyken' doesn't have to be sheared to grow well above your head. (And I'm not sure about the idea that shearing the sides makes a plant taller quicker than it would be otherwise. If anything, repeatedly cutting part of it away should make it grow more slowly.)

Many shrubs frequently seen in smaller sizes are slow-growing rather than dwarf. Hence the phrase "dwarf and slow-growing conifers" - these are actually two different categories.

The main problem with 'Otto Luyken' here is prunus shot hole. That and any fruiting Prunus laurocerasus being a source for nuisance seedlings.

Prunus is a waste of time for those who aren't willing to spray. Shearing doesn't necessarily slow growth. When a shrub/tree is excessively pruned, it responds back by shooting out new growth called watersprouts so that it doesn't go into starvation. Shearing is ok for many plants but there certainly are exceptions (ALL azaleas/rhododendrons, dogwoods, crepe myrtles, etc.)

In organized tests where trees were cut back at planting time the control plants that weren't pruned at planting time had larger overall volumes when all were measured later. Vigorous shoots produced in reaction to heading cuts create the false impression of increased whole plant vigor and faster total plant size increase by growing rapidly themselves. Where the tendency for woody plants to try and replace amputated parts quickly can be useful is when we want to "renew" all or part of (usually) a shrub that has become twiggier than is desired. Cutting down all of a spirea for instance that has become trashy looking doesn't make it healthier or faster growing, it just takes away all the ugly old branches and results in them being replaced with new ones.

Typically, Otto Luyken laurels are used as a spreading, lower foundation shrub, or understory planting. And often people shear them -- mostly the tops -- to keep them low.

But if you only shear them on the sides, and just let them grow UP, you can make a nice upright hedge. That was my ultimate point, really. People hardly ever use Otto Luyken for an upright hedge that I've seen.

People tend to shear evergreen/japanese azaleas around here. They start dying out and getting holes in them right as they get a nice size.

If you have deer, I would suggest that you not use yew. It is one of only two plants the deer bother here, and they strip it to bare twigs year round.