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I've got a bay tree which I don't like the shape of. Its got a weird V shape thing going on, that reminds me of the sycamore tree at the top of the garden! Can I cut it back hard so it bushes up more? Or would it make it worse
I treat mine like a sawmill specimen. They are very resilient. I'd do it bit by bit but if you do overdo it then don't worry. It will have a 99.9% chance of eventual recovery.
i had one in my london garden and it was growing all over the show, whereas i wanted it to look like a little round lollipop - OH took the shears to it...it looked awful for ages but now (garden is now my daughter's) is beginning to look like a slightly flattened lollipop so from my very limited experience i would agree with sarraceniac and cut it back as much as is required ...............
Can I Hard Prune my Bay? YES YOU CAN.....!
Our Lollipop BayTree got really sick one year, and I cut it back severely.
Thankfully, it recovered beautifully.
We had a small one in a pot at out last house which got covered in scale insect/sooty mould. I cut it back so it was just the main stem and it grew back the next year fine with no sign of scale insect.
You could try some hardwood cuttings as now is the time they are usually taken. You have nothing to loose if you are going to prune it anyway. I have a large bay in a pot which suffered from sooty mould and I cured it by moving the bay to a place where it got better air circulation.
I recently cut a multistemmed tree back to ground level with a chainsaw. It is already sprouting and will soon be back up to 4 meters high. The wood is excellent for open fires giving off a lovely sweet bay scented smoke.
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