Add Flavour to your Kitchen Directly from your Garden - Grow Bay Leaves at home.

Bay laurel, also known as Bay leaves, is an amazing plant that is both ornamental in the kitchen as well as your space. This amazing herb is used by people in different stews and sauces, and has been regarded as an aromatic spice since ancient times. Additionally, having the plant in your garden or terrace will add more charm and elegance to your space. Having a bay leaf tree means all you need to do is pluck fresh leaves and add Mediterranean flavour to your food. 

This article provides you with a complete overview of how to grow a bay leaf tree. From its planting to growing, here you will get to know everything that should be followed for a brilliant harvest. 

Planting Bay Leaf

Mainly, there are two different methods through which you can plant a bay leaf laurel: either by cutting or getting a young potted tree. Either way, planting is a fairly simple process; though, if you’d like to enjoy fresh bay leaves sooner, you might favor the potted route to get a jump start with growth. However, if you are looking for the entire gardening experience, then propagating a plant from its stem is a highly rewarding process.

When to Plant  

Plant bay laurel in early spring, just before the growing season really gears up and while your young tree is still dormant. If planting cuttings in a container indoors, any time of the year is fine, but you may get the best luck in summer, when the shoots are actively moving.

Instructions to Plant a Bay Leaf Tree

• If you’re planting a young bay laurel potted tree you’ve purchased from a retailer, the process is pretty typical, like most trees.  

• Dig a hole that’s about twice the size of the young tree’s pot; this helps make sure the soil is loose enough for the roots to spread out.  

• Plant outdoors in full sun, except in very warm locations where some afternoon shade is helpful, just to keep it from stressing.

• It’s also possible to propagate bay laurel using a method called air layering, but it’s more complicated than the straightforward options.
  

Growing and Care Instructions

Bay laurel isn’t difficult to grow, but it grows slowly. If you think of mint and chives as the sprinters of the herb world, then think of your bay leaves as a marathon runner.

Because of bay laurel’s temperate Mediterranean background, it’s not very cold hardy, and it generally needs the climate of Zones 8 and up in order to survive outdoors in the ground.

Happily, bay laurel does well in containers, so you can grow it in cooler regions as long as you bring it indoors during cold weather. You can keep it indoors all year long, or acclimate it for life outdoors during the warmer summer months, then move it back in for winter.  

If grown indoors, you need to choose a location where the plant receives ample sunlight throughout the day. 

With these instructions, you can easily make sure that you have a healthy bay lead plant at home that you can use anytime you want.