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Bay Leaves Herb
The bay leaves herb comes from the bay tree. It is highly aromatic and ornamental with lovely glossy dark green leaves. You will only need one in your herb garden to provide you with leaves. It is slightly tender and might not survive a harsh winter in the northern hemisphere. It can also get wind burned and so it needs to be sheltered. A lot of people grow their bay trees in pots and move them indoors over winter but if it gets damaged, it will often shoot again from the base in the spring. If not, I'm afraid you'll have to buy another bay tree. You can safeguard against losses by taking a cutting and having one or two plants in reserve. It's an important culinary herb with lots of uses. Growing Bay Leaves Herb Pick a sunny but sheltered spot if that's possible in your garden. Any reasonable quality soil will do - but dig a good sized hole and add some compost at planting time to get it off to a good start. Keep the tree clipped - a lot of people make them into either a ball, cone or pyramid. Rescue Remedy for Bay Tree Bay trees can grow very large - if it's massive and you don't want it, then take some cuttings, pick some leaves to dry and then dig it up - a bit drastic, but bay trees can grow to 30ft (10m) tall. If it's just wind burned or a bit leggy, then clip it into a nice shape and see if that restores its health. Give the roots a dressing of fertiliser after weeding - it should revive nicely. However, if it doesn't, then take some cuttings to replace it and dig it up - maybe transfer it to another place in your garden if you have the space. If it’s relatively small but in bad shape, you could try ‘earthing up’ – look in the Growers Dictionary for an explanation – but take some cuttings anyway.
For an explanation of gardening terms, please check out the Growers Dictionary section.
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