a pic might be worth a thousand more words ...

4 to 6 weeks to get the roots working might not be unreasonable ...

how did you plant it.. what is your native soil ... did you amend the planting hole.. did you need to do any root surgery.. did you spread out winding roots ... give us all the info you can .... other than the planting date. and we can speculate for you ...

and the pic or two

welcome to the forums.. big city name is much better than just zone.. which is just min winter temp ..

ken

Hi. Thank you! Attaching a few photos. We are in San Carlos, CA. We didn't plant them ourselves, but here is what I know - the native soil is clay(ish) and from what I understand is on acidic side. We have 2 oak trees that grow in close proximity to some of the new plants and provide partial shade. They get full sun 2-3 hours max a day. They came in pots and nothing was done to the roots. There was liquid root stimulator added later and some fertilizer/compost in the planting hole and at the top at the time of planting.

As you can see, some of them came with blooms. Only one had a new bloom since planting, and no new leaves. The pics are from today, so 5-6 weeks after planting.

It is normal. They will put out new growth when they are ready which should be the same time as other English laurel in your area put out new growth. Check out your neighbor's laurels.

Does English laurel grow in your area? Because USDA 10 is a pretty high zone number. (It's very common up here, where it is even a weed in greenbelts and parks. So if your conditions are suitable there is likely to be some other plantings around there somewhere).

Otherwise if that hedge on sticks effect is to be maintained you're going to have to prune on time every year to keep it from growing yards high and wide.

Later: One California origin web page says the species is suited up to USDA 9 - right after it says it goes up to Sunset 24 which is San Diego etc.

Embothrium's comments are valid. According to the Sunset Western Garden Book, the plant has a very limited suitability south of the Bay area and relegated to the coastal areas even up in to NoCal.

And it needs a fair amount of water on a routine basis so perhaps not the wisest choice for any California gardens as according to news reports, you guys are entering another extended drought period.

Where is San Carlos? Is there any hope?

There is plenty of English Laurel around us, and even in warmer areas to the south of San Francisco Bay Area. Also, our backyard doesn't get much sun during the day, and that's one of the reasons this plant was recommended, as opposed to pittosporum, for instance. I'm trying to understand if the lack of new growth 5-6 weeks after planting is normal. Thanks for the suggestion to check in surrounding areas. I'll try to check some established plants to see if they have new growth. I hope it's a seasonal issue + new planting, and not something else that's going on.

Any other suggestions would be much appreciated.

New growth on English laurel is a seasonal event, not a post planting event. The sound of hedge trimmers could be a good clue.

Hi there, I live about 30 min south of San Carlos and we planted laurel awhile back. It did almost nothing for an entire year and now it’s growing like crazy. I wouldn’t expect any growth within 5-6 weeks. Hope that helps!

They look perfectly healthy and there’s no reason to expect new growth so quickly. If you look at your plants you’ll see the huge amount of growth they put on last year. You might find yourself being be quite glad if they grow a little slower this year. They’ll need constant pruning in due course and, because they have large leaves, it’s best to do it by hand. If you use power hedge trimmers you’ll end up with many leaves chopped across and that looks ugly. How are you hoping to train these? Pleached? Balls on sticks?

Thanks, floral_uk! The goal is to create a hedge that will be 5-6 feet above the fence. So, we are going to let it grow sideways and up until it reaches approximately 12 feet from the ground. Then keep it trimmed at that height.

Typical growth from this plant involves a wider than tall crown being produced. So if you let your planting get 12' tall without doing any curbing of it beforehand at that point it will be something like 15' across. With nearly half of that width extending beyond the fence, unless the neighbor jumps on it and keeps it cut back (or gripes at you about it and gets you to take care of it. Take care of it as in maybe keeping it on your side of the fence entirely).

Also when it is 12' tall how do you picture keeping it contained from that point? Because you are talking about having to work that high in the air for the entire length of the planting every time pruning is needed, every year into the future indefinitely.

And having to clean up and dispose of all the debris so generated afterward.

One author referred to English laurel as "real estate plant" because of people selling and moving to get away from tall, bulging hedges of it. And even wrote something to the effect that "the planting of an English laurel hedge is an act of aggression against one's neighbor".

Embothrium, there is no neighbor on the other side of the fence, just a street with foot traffic, and yes we are planning to trim it from back, front and top. That's the price we're willing to pay for privacy.

In a suburban size hedge row, an efficient gardener could trim that 12' high hedge and clean it up in 3hrs. A crew would make it faster.

If you want to keep it narrow up top, train it to be that.

Many property owners are not efficient gardeners at all - how much of an annual chore like this HU wants to take on is critical to the advisability of this scheme.

Embothrium, we'll hire a professional to do the job :)

Note my comment about mechanical cutting chopping the large leaves in half. You might have to live with that look for efficiency’s sake.