The All-Season Cherry Laurel
In anticipation of Mt Laurel’s new home plan, the “Cherry Laurel,” Mt Laurel resident Jill Walton offers information about the native plant.
Many gardeners consider planting natives limiting. But if you examine your options, there’s a native alternative you can substitute for many of the exotics available at chain nurseries. Many hedge-forming evergreens can cause problems with their aggressive behavior, but the Carolina cherry laurel offers year-round landscape interest without being a threat to its environment.
Native to the southeast, this type of cherry laurel grows to the size of a small to medium-sized tree, with a range of 15-36 feet tall and a spread of about 20-30 feet wide, creating a handsome dark green visual screen. The Carolina cherry laurel also boasts showy creamy white elongated flower clusters from February to April. This engaging presentation is followed by shiny black fruit—about the size of blueberries—that last through the winter and offer a food source for birds.
Carolina cherry laurel’s leaves and branches are poisonous, which makes it deer-resistant, but also a potential toxic hazard to family animals and children who might be attracted by the pleasant scent of the crushed greenery. The Carolina cherry laurel is heat- and drought-tolerant once established and will grow in sunny or partially shady spots. Cherry laurels don’t respond well to heavy pruning and are not suited for shaped hedging, making them perfectly suited to the landscape-as-nature-intended-style of Mt Laurel.
Learn more about the new Cherry Laurel home plan here.
