How and When to Prune Laurel Bushes and Hedges

Bush Pruning

Set aside time in late winter to prune your laurel. Pay attention to when flowers begin to sprout on your laurel bush—this is a good sign that it’s time to start pruning. Doing this in late winter gives your laurel plenty of time to grow and develop before summer starts winding down. For instance, you can typically start pruning a mountain laurel in February. Cherry laurels can be pruned anytime between January and July.

Cut off any dead, injured, or sick branches. Spread apart your laurel’s branches and take a closer look inside. Do any limbs look a little worse for wear, or like they’re about to fall off? If so, use pruning shears to cut them completely back to the base of the bush.

Prune back branches that cross over each other. Your laurel plant needs some room to breathe! Poke around the branches and see if any are crossing over each other, or just generally tangled. Cut any tangled, intersecting branches back to the base, so your bush has a little bit of wiggle room. You don’t need to remove both branches—just take off 1 of the tangled limbs.

Trim away weaker, thinner branches from your bush. Pruning is all about helping your bush grow big and strong in future seasons. With this in mind, look for any branches that look a little thinner or weaker than the rest. Completely cut back these branches, so your plant can grow stronger branches in future seasons.

Cut back one-third of your flowering shoots. You want your laurel bush to be healthy, but not too overgrown. Thin out your bush by cutting away one-third of your flowering branches back to the base. It can be tricky to cut back such a large number of branches! To make things easier, count your laurel boughs in groups of 3. Prune back every branch that lands on the number 3.

Prune your branches at a 45-degree angle. Always trim your branches at an angle, with the cut pointing upwards. This helps your plant heal more quickly, and will help your bush heal a little more quickly.

Hedge Shaping

Trim your hedges between June and September. Hedges are a beautiful addition to your yard, but they can look a bit unruly after a while. Plan to prune your hedges at least 2 times during June and September, especially when your laurel hedges go through a growth spurt. Laurel hedges may be trimmed at any time during the season but it's best to avoid the coldest months of the year as the cut edges may be susceptible to frost damage. As a general rule of thumb, plan to trim your hedges every 4 to 6 weeks.

Cut the highest hedge branch to set your hedge’s height. Eyeball your laurel to figure out which branch is the tallest. Prune this branch with a pair of hedge trimmers until you’re happy with the height. This branch will now serve as the height marker for the rest of your hedges.

Tie a string along your hedge to keep the top even. Secure 1 end of string along the very top of your hedge to mark the height. Pull this string taut along the very top edge of your laurel, and tie tightly along the other side. Leave this string in place throughout the growing season—if your laurel starts growing above this string, cut it back so it stays in line.

Trim your hedges with secateurs instead of hedge trimmers. Laurels have pretty big leaves—unfortunately, regular hedge trimmers tend to make larger leaves turn brown, which doesn’t look very nice from afar. Instead, use a pair of secateurs, which make it a lot easier to trim and adjust your edges without any cosmetic damage.