Almost two years ago I planted four 4'tall Skip Laurels. The one I planted on the westside along a privacy fence line and under the eastside of an oak tree is doing great and flowers nicely. I did hand water some potted trees, under that oak tree, almost daily during our drought all last summer. Such watering is most likely what provided enough moisture for that Laurel even though I did not concentrate on watering it as much as I focused on watering the potted trees. My other three Skip laurels were planted farther north along the same fence line and the ground sloped slightly for proper water drainage. The problem I encountered was that two of those got too much water from my neighbor's improperly draining backyard rain or yard watering runoff. All three continued to struggle that first season, but by the next Spring I clearly could see two of them were in trouble and needed to be raised. I actually raised all three of those which were planted slightly closer together. I had to baby all of those raised ones with hand watering almost every day, but the one with the worst root damage from previously sitting in too much water, prior to my raising them, still died. This last fall, I replace that one, and even though we have had a dry winter; I did not have to water it much, and it is doing fine. But still this spring those three do not look like they are going to bloom as nicely as the one farther up the fence line and is planted under my mature oak tree. Hopefully if this summer I baby the three elevated ones, they will get the chance to establish a better root system and finally catch up with the other one.

As an experienced nursery person, horticulturist and garden designer, I have trouble imagining a more low maintenance, trouble-free shrub than laurels!! Any kind of English or cherry laurel, Prunus laurocerasus. Skip laurel is a just a laurel cultivar with slightly increased cold tolerance but otherwise no different than any other cultivar wrt growing conditions. In areas where they are fully hardy, they will grow in both full sun and heavy shade, will tolerate extended dry periods when established but will thrive with periodic deep soakings during those dry periods. In fact, they grow so well here, they are on the monitor list as a invasive species as birds eat the seeds and spread them throughout green belts and native forested areas. Very little bothers these shrubs - they can be subject to some deer browse and shothole disease but virtually never to the point that the plant fails or dies. They can even be grown successfully in heavy clay as long as they are planted correctly for the conditions. The only observation I can make about the previous posters' issues is that the plants' root system was compromised at time of planting, the rootball was not properly hydrated before planting or they were planted incorrectly. With properly draining soil conditions, it is pretty darn hard to overwater these!! These are such easy care, low maintenance shrubs, they are used extensively in institutional or commercial plantings that receive virtually NO aftercare.

Actually, the above diagram is incorrect :-) The root flare - that area where the trunk widens into the root system - should be at the existing soil surface level or slightly higher. Not buried several inchs below the soil surface, as the diagram illustrates. There are some other issues that should be considered as well so digging and replanting correctly is highly encouraged. Read this info sheet carefully on how to plant trees and shrubs.......it pretty much nails the correct methods and should explain clearly what was not right with the current planting. How to plant trees and shrubs.

lack of sun.. rarely kills anything ... but it can significantly affect vigor ... as noted.. it will grow slower ... less dense ... and probably taller or leaning.. in an attempt to reach out toward more light ... with trees and shrubs.. we talk about tree/shrub time ... being counted in 5 or 10 year segments ... so if you put a full sun plant. in shade.. you can expect to double that to 10 to 20 years segments ... [just using the numbers to make a point...] in other words.. if you are doing it in hopes of a sight block ... it might take a lot longer than you hope ... the other problem in deep shade.. is drought.. as the large trees out compete new babes for water .. and perhaps a dense canopy above doenst let a lot of rain in.. etc ... there are other variables in this situation.. than just the light issue ... those can be overcome i tree time.. but they may need a longer period of tlc to get them fully established.. to compete on their own ... you may have to water them more than the usual year or two .... until they can grow the roots.. to become self sufficient .... ken