Prunus laurocerasus 'MANO'

In our climate there are not many evergreen trees, and those that are evergreen are mostly conifers. Sometimes ivy climbs up a post and looks like a tree but that is just about it. Knowing how beautiful evergreen foliage is we keep a good range of evergreen broadleaved plants trained into tree forms. Mostly from autumn until spring you will appreciate having a tall trunk with an evergreen crown looking so alive and cheerful when other deciduous plants are fully dormant.

Mano is one of the best cherry laurel varieties for growing as a standard tree. It naturally forms a compact, globose crown that doesn’t need to be pruned to look good. The leaves are deep green, broadly elliptic and glossy. In May appear plentiful of erect racemes composed of small, creamy white, fragrant flowers that are followed by purple-black, spherical fruit (berries), loved by birds, not edible for humans, but not poisonous. Only the seeds from green, unripe fruit may cause some problems. Unless you want to keep the fruit for birds in your garden, you can prune the plant right after flowering to encourage new and clean growths without fruit.

Laurels need slightly deep and fertile, preferably acidic, moist soil, and extra watering in frost-free periods in winter as prevention from drying out before the ground gets frozen. They will thrive in full sun or part shade, and will also tolerate being grown in full shade but may loose their shape. Laurels seldom suffers from chlorosis (leaves turning yellow owing to lack of iron in the soil) but when it happens use a special liquid soil pH balancer to keep it acidic or add plenty of iron-rich fertilizer. Once established they run their roots deep enough to absorb nutrients from lower, usually clay ground. Mano is quite hardy and well-established plants withstand temperatures down to about -27°C (USDA zone 5b).

Last update 01-04-2013