Bay laurel is one of the most underused varieties in our gardens today

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Any time I’ve travelled to Britain or Europe, especially the Netherlands and Germany, I have admired their stunning bay trees simply growing in home gardens. Most European bay trees are grown in Italy where they do a magnificent job of shaping them into narrow spires, perfect cones or rounded spheres.

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Laurus nobilis is a Mediterranean native which, left in its natural habitat, will grow 3.6-to-12-metres tall and wide. Trees are usually multi-stemmed and produce much-sought-after, aromatic leaves about five-to-10-centimetres long. Each spring, small clusters of yellow flowers appear and eventually turn into small black fruit.

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The Sunset Western Garden book lists bay laurel as a Zone 5-to-9 plant, but in my experience, it’s truly a Zone 7, which, if well acclimatized and growing in the ground, can tolerate temperatures of anywhere from -10 C to -12 C.

I mention this because I think bay laurel is one of the most underused varieties in our gardens today. About 15 years ago we planted a young bay on a rather steep bank on the south side of our home and enjoyed the tree for many years. It was very vigorous and had to be pruned to keep it down to a manageable size, but once shaped, it was as beautiful a broad-leafed evergreen as any other in the garden. Every time I walked by, I would rub my hands on the leaves and enjoy its extraordinarily scented foliage. The true beauty was also going out at any time of year to gather a few leaves to enjoy in so many recipes. Leaves also make wonderful potpourris and we often used stems and small branches in attractive wreaths and greens bouquets.

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When it was younger, it survived normal winter temperatures with no problems, but when we were the beneficiaries of cold Artic outflow winds with temperatures in the -20 C to -25 C range, it needed protection. As it was exposed to these winds, I would add a layer of protective mulch about 30-to-45-cm deep around the roots and used sheets of N-Sulate as a tree wrap as well.

The worst-case scenario was some burnt foliage on the northeast side of the plant, which recovered nicely by spring.

In colder areas, bay trees can also make beautiful container plants for the patio. They grow quickly, are easy to prune, and of course, they’re a constant source of bay leaves for the kitchen.

The challenge is finding a winter location where they will do well in their pots. Moving them into a traditional home setting, even beside a window, is seldom satisfactory. They need a cool location with lots of light, so if you can find a very cool room in your house where you can shut off heat vents or have garage space that is well enough insulated to prevent severe frost and with some light, that would usually suffice. You only need this protection in severely cold winters. If we have an El Nino winter with mild weather, they might be just fine outside in a protected area.

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Planted in the ground, over time they do become far more resilient and tough. As a rule of thumb, more tender trees will become more frost-hardy as they mature, but you still can’t assume they will take severe cold just because they have sized-up. Last year’s cold destroyed so many palms, some of which had survived for 10-to-20 years.

A herb companion to bay laurel is rosemary, which is just on the edge of Zone 6 hardiness. Folks tell me they bring potted rosemary inside and they succumb to the heat and lack of humidity in their winter home environment, but others also mention that, if left outside in Zone 6 or lower, they will not take the severe cold.

Arp, the rosemary that was discovered in Arp, Tex., is by far the hardiest variety, tolerating temperatures down to -20 C.

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Here again, finding the most protected location on the south or west side of your home, out of the cold winter winds, will provide their best chance of survival if they’re planted in well-drained soil. When chilling cold arrives, they will need to be both mulched and wrapped with proper insulating material like N-Sulate, which has a 10 C rating for protection.

With our changing climate, we will be expecting more extremes, and bay trees and hardy rosemary are both heat and drought tolerant. With careful, strategic planting, as well as winter protection in these colder winter periods, they can make a valuable contribution to both our ornamental and herbal landscapes.

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