I'm in zone 7, and I've decided to keep my bay laurel in a pot since it is just too much on the edge for keeping them living in the ground. I have a very large pot for it, and I bring it in during the winter. I have kept a bay laurel for many years - I think the current one I have is over ten years old. I keep it no more than about three feet tall, though during the summer it will send up long shoots, all of which will be cut off to provide the leaves I need for soups and such during the winter. Each spring when I am moving it out after frost, I evaluate whether I need to add soil to the pot (I dump the whole thing out and add soil to the bottom of the pot to bring the surface closer to the top of the pot), and I fertilize and clean up any old or damaged branches, trimming as necessary. Fairly low maintenance other than that - just keep it watered as needed.

I am zone 5 lower Michigan....I think it said bring in if severe frost...I will repot it to be able to bring it in and also to give it new soil. I am hoping it does well. One of the plants I found was only a few inches tall so I am thinking they are very slow growing but it doesn't sound that way from Floral's description. I can only hope. I read articles about how you can burn the leaves as an a type of incense.

Right, so it probably won't survive your winter outside. Although I said they reach tree proportions in my climate that doesn't imply they grow particularly fast. If you saw trees a few inches tall that just means they are very young. They are trees after all, not annuals, so they don't need a rapid growth rate. A well established one might increase a foot a year but they slow as they reach mature size.

I keep a few in the ground and a couple in containers (just in case).

I am in NJ (zone 7). In the ground, they may show either no winter damage or heavy damage, but will re sprout from the roots once Spring returns. Being they are near the house, I don't mind the occasional dieback as there is no room for tree trees there (though, I guess they could be espaliered). In a container, they seem to prefer largish containers (remember, they are trees). The one in the first picture would not be harmed by a larger container, just make sure the soil is well-draining.

I've never seen a bay espaliered but they are extremely amenable to pruning and can easily be clipped into various formal shapes. Just for fun I braided a seedling on my allotment and keep it clipped into a lollipop.

I was wondering if it is good to prune off the growing tips or is it better to remove leaves from the branches?

Depends on what shape you want the tree to be. Bear in mind that new soft leaves are less strongly flavouted and don't dry flat. Yours is so small it hardly has any leaves to spare. If you cut off the growing tip it will bush out. If you take a few leaves from the stem it will not affect the future shape of the tree other than giving it a bare trunk.

Okay...it has a new pot and it looks much happier. Do you think the pot is big enough for this summer? It's about 3-4 inches larger.

i live in south tx which would be much much different than your climate, but here are my thoughts on bay tree

i have one, planted in raised bed in loose light soil, it started looking much like yours 3 years ago, it has only tripled in height, but now has many shoots as tall as the original plant, the shoots are growing at a much faster pace than the original shoot and i'm sure i'd like it better as a single trunk, but i'm letting it alone... it probably gets 8 hours of direct sun throughout the day as it's on the north side of a large tree line shading it from the south periodically throughout the day.... in winter it gets a less shade, we are considered to be subtropical, but it got down to 24 or 25 degrees two days this year with no harm to the bay "plant" 9 months of the year we are hot (up to a hundred or so) and have over 85 percent humidity most of those months, it is on a watering system (well water a little on the alkaline side) but the watering system has only been in place a little less than a year - before that it didn't get watered much at all-- fertilized lightly with a good quality organic poultry based manure

Each year in the fall, before bringing it into the house, I cut off shoots up to 18-inches long, that have nice, mature leaves on them to use for the next year. I tie bundles of the shoots together and hang them to dry, or my wife will sometimes use the lower leaves then place the shoots in a dry vase as an arrangement (continuing to take off leaves as needed for cooking). Just because they are current year leaves, doesn't mean they are immature or will curl - they are nice, shiny, solid leaves like you would find any time you buy bay leaves.

Looks good, Kathy. And yes, like any woody herb, you can burn it for fragrance. We put branches on the barbecue sometimes. Same with rosemary.

drmbear Cherry, just to be clear, I said the new 'soft' shoots would curl. I meant just the fresh tips, not all leaves from the current year. They are easy to tell apart while still on the tree.

Bay is a very easy, unfussy tree as long as it doesn't get too cold in winter. It isn't tropical, it is Mediterranean, do it can take sub freezing temps for short periods. It thrives year round outdoors in my climate and we do get freezes sometimes. It is no trickier than Privet, apart from the slightly higher winter temps required. This is my neighbour's Bay. This was after pruning and the photo is a few years old. It's bigger now.

I'm growing 2 different varieties in 10 gal containers and they have tripled in size over the past year since I bought them. I will post pics later.

OMG floral.....that is huge! The leaves are so expensive they could get rich selling those leaves...lol...

Nick....I would be interested to see your plants...

The funny thing is that when the previous occupants moved in they went out and bought a little bay in a pot. That had no idea they already had a monster in the garden until I told them what it was.

So funny.....I bet they were shocked....I never had a bay tree or even heard of anyone else having one. They are not common here, that I know of, but the garden center said they sold out. Who knew? Not me...

The one with the longer thinner leaves is called an Emerald Bay