Bay tree not growing much?

[sandspider]

Hi all

Not exactly a veg question I know, but I couldn't find an area of the forum more suitable, so thought I'd ask it here

I bought a little bay tree from a tree stall 2 or 3 years ago. It was about 6" high at the time. I potted it up into a bigger pot there and then, and have pretty much left it alone since. (Besides watering it, feeding it a bit, topping up the soil, and occasionally adding a few trowels of wood ash to the soil.) I recently noticed that it hasn't grown much. Maybe 7 or 8" high now, and a bit wider than when I got it, but not a huge amount of change. Am I just being too impatient? I know the big bay tree at my parents' house grew a lot faster, but it was a big tree when we bought the house and planted directly into the ground. I was going to plant this one out when it got big enough, but looks like that might take a while!

Is there anything I can do to make it grow a bit quicker?! It's healthy looking and green, but I'd like to cook with its leaves and it has too few to really spare any! Is it possible that adding wood ash might stunt it? I know it might make the soil more alkaline, but bay trees aren't supposed to object to alkaline soil, and I do top it up with fresh soil so I wouldn't have thought it would be too alkaline anyway.

Any thoughts would be appreciated, TIA.

[shepp726]

hi sandpiper,

am not sure, but i think keeping bay in a pot/container is one of the ways to keep it small and ornamental, pruning also does this.

[sandspider]

Thanks Shepp. That may have something to do with it, but it's quite a big pot (2 foot across ish) and I've not pruned it at all.

Maybe it will get a big growth spurt if the weather ever warms up and the rain and snow stops!

[Alison]

I bought a similar sized bay a couple of years ago and it too is in a pot (I protect it in an unheated greenhouse in winter) and, despite having loads of leaves removed for the pot, it is now about double the size. Not actually sure I've fed it at all in that time either. It's probably due for a repot when I put it out for the summer again but will still be in a pot rather smaller than the one you mention.

[sandspider]

Strange. I might have overestimated the pot size a bit (I'm at work currently so I can't see it) but it must be at least a foot across and 1.5 foot deep. I didn't protect the bay over winter, but when / if the weather improves and I manage to lay the base for my greenhouse, I will move it in there! I suppose taking a few leaves off it might encourage it to grow more new leaves?

[kathycam]

I'm no use, but wondering about my bay tree. I think its a bay tree- was on my plot when I took it on in january. There are 2 of them and they started greenich but are now brown. Are they gonnas? I guess I should have protected it against the frost. Is there any hope for them?

[sandspider]

Don't think frost would kill them - I didn't protect mine from it, it was snow & ice covered for a couple of weeks but still looks healthy, just small! Some of the leaves do go brown and dry out and eventually drop off, that's normal. But if there are no green leaves left at all they might be in trouble... Leave them a bit, they might sprout new green leaves when they feel it's Spring...

[veggiechicken]

Give the bark a scrape and see if its green underneath. I grew my bays from cuttings - this year I need to take a saw to them - one is at least 15' tall
Shame you're not nearer sandspider - you could have as many bay leaves as you wished

[Alison]

They are pretty hardy but I know from experience that they need more protection if they're in a pot (I lost one the first bad winter we had in ages, about 3 years ago when it had been fine for the previous 10+ years), I think the soil in the pots can freeze which obviously they aren't too keen on . A friend of mine lost one that, although in a bed in good soil a few years ago but I think that was more due to the position as it was being smothered by some shrub or other and I don't think it had much light so that's probably not really relevant.

[sandspider]

Give the bark a scrape and see if its green underneath. I grew my bays from cuttings - this year I need to take a saw to them - one is at least 15' tall
Shame you're not nearer sandspider - you could have as many bay leaves as you wished

Thanks for the offer! I do get over to Cardiff quite regularly if that's anywhere near you?!

How long did it take your bay to grow to 15' high? I did try taking cuttings from the huge old bay at my parents house but none of them "took" for some reason.

[sandspider]

They are pretty hardy but I know from experience that they need more protection if they're in a pot (I lost one the first bad winter we had in ages, about 3 years ago when it had been fine for the previous 10+ years), I think the soil in the pots can freeze which obviously they aren't too keen on . A friend of mine lost one that, although in a bed in good soil a few years ago but I think that was more due to the position as it was being smothered by some shrub or other and I don't think it had much light so that's probably not really relevant.

Apparently they can survive down to -5 / -10C. Maybe this winter wasn't as cold as it felt!

[eirish]

Oddly enough the one I have in a pot looks better than the one in the ground, and they're only about a meter apart. And the potted one was a clearance find at HomeBase, whereas the one in the ground was a nice bushy plant from the good garden centre.

[kathycam]

I'll have a look see if its green underneath. They've only recently gone brown, so hopefully I can bring them back to life. The only things growing near them are daffoldils and couch grass. So poissibly the couch grass is smoothering the roots a bit? Are the brown leaves useable or should I just wait until it pull through and has fresh leaves?

[sandspider]

I wouldn't use the brown leaves to cook with, but they burn extremely well and smell lovely!

[Bren In Pots]

I nearly lost my potted Bay tree the year before last with all the snow, so this winter its stayed in the GH.