Bright 'N Tight™ Carolina Laurel

Follow a regular watering schedule during the first growing season to establish a deep, extensive root system. Watering can be reduced after establishment. Feed with a general purpose fertilizer before new growth begins in spring. Pruning time: spring after flowering.

This large broadleaf foliage shrub is the ideal background plant with a dozen uses. It's primary value is as a hedge reaching tall enough to provide a solid privacy barrier. Density of foliage makes this also suited for windbreaks. A problem solving sound attenuation and as a visual screen for front yards that reclaim public space and block out traffic noise. One of the best shrubs for screening off neighboring houses and unsightly land uses. Adaptability to shearing makes this an outstanding formal foliage plant sheared into cone or columnar shapes as well as the standard rectangular forms of hedges.

Use as a rich background for shorter shrubs with more interesting blooms such as Ramapo Rhododendron, (Rhododendron x 'Ramapo'), Eleanor Tabor Indian Hawthorne, (Raphiolepis indica 'Conor') and Penny Mac Hydrangea, (Hydrangea macrophylla 'Penny Mac'). Excellent backing for big bold perennials too: Chicago Apache, (Hemerocallis x 'Chicago Apache'), Midknight Blue Agapanthus, (Agapanthus x 'Monmid') and Mango Meadowbrite Coneflower, (Echinacea 'CBG').

This plant is the American cherry laurel or wild mock orange that is native to stream valleys of South Carolina westward to Texas and mostly in the coastal states. It has proven valuable to the deep south and southern California. It was for a time classified as Laurocerasus caroliniana by Max Roemer, 1763-1819 of Switzerland. The current more accurate classification was conferred by William Aiton 1731-1793, of England. This cultivar was developed and introduced by Monrovia in 1961.

The fruit of Carolina laurel is valuable wild bird forage, but seed contains high concentrations of prussic acid (cyanide) which is a hazard for grazing animals, pets and children.