Grow Your Own Magazine

showing my ignorance i was planning a herb garden for my daughter this year and thought ,well bay leaves are put in loads of stews etc so i,ll plant some of those in the herb garden. i was amazed when looking them up on internet and saw the price. there appear to be different types but even the cheapest advertised is very expensive. is this right or am i looking at the wrong thing.

If you can wait, then wait until spring and you should be able to get from somewhere like focus or b+q for a reasonable price.

Cheers Chris

the cheapest i saw was £20 for a very small bush. seems crazy. can they be grown from cuttings as i know a friend has one on his patio about 18" high.

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never be afraid to ask because a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

They are slow growing, that's why they're relatively expensive.
Have a look on eBay ... they're going for a fiver all in.

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I came, I saw, I planted

Seems I got quite lucky. I was able to get one from the local garden center for £5. Small "tree" about 2 foot tall and was in quite bad condition, but re-potted it and it's coming back to life now in its first spring. Indoors though I should mention.

Steven

We had a huge bay tree in our garden when we moved in and it was really far too big for the garden. I don't know how old it was but the Landlord decided it had to go, much to our relief. He had it taken down

We do still keep getting little bay trees popping up now and again though and are trying to get a couple to establish in pots.

I may be able to find you a baby one if you like

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Off to China

I would put it outsde in the garden Nerobot, unless you really live in the frozen north. My East Yorks baytree was brought here in a tub looking less than brilliant and within a year of being planted in the ground it became a decent bush. It has never looked back. I keep it in shape by trimming (and using in cooking) and it also gets roped in for church flower arranging.

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Some days you're the statue, some days you're the pigeon!

vegheaven.blogspot.comUpdated July 1st 2008

I think it's a bit cold up here in Glasgow Plus moving house next year and want to take it with me. Might plant it then, but maybe still too cold.

Steven

Ah yes - Glasgow's a tad further north! I would still put it outside though - especially in the summer.

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Some days you're the statue, some days you're the pigeon!

vegheaven.blogspot.comUpdated July 1st 2008

Goin g the other way - seriously down south here - bay trees grow to a super size despite the really severe winters. because of our micro climate up here on the hill we keep our bay trees in pots and overwinter them under the eaves of the house.

But on the open and very exposed pig farm - which is on a very fertile flood plane - they grow up to 20 feet high and are actually a bit of a bloody nuisance because of their size.

Price wise, they're relatively inexpensive and wouldn't expect to pay more than the equivalent of £3/4 here.

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TonyF, Dordogne 24220

yep - that sounds more like it. We'd never put one back in the ground here that's for sure. We still have the trunk of the old one and it must be nearly a metre across.

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Off to China

I paid £2.75 for mine from the local GC last spring. It was about 12 inches tall, but grew on quickly last summer.

thanks a lot,plenty on ebay as you say £5 all in.,just bought one.

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never be afraid to ask because a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

rushed to say i got one on ebay and sorry forgot to say thank you for kind offer.
you encourage me to search the forums ,see if i can help anyone.thanks again

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never be afraid to ask because a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

No problem greg77, pleased you found one.

Maybe I should go round my garden see how many I can find. I could make some money on Ebay

:-)

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Off to China

I think someone forgot to tell my Bay Tree that bit I planted it as a small shrub last year - about half my height - oooo 1 foot that is then (cost about £5 from the local garden centre, so not too expensive at all) and it needs a serious haircut as it's towering over me already

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Shortie

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children; one of these is roots, the other wings" - Hodding Carter

I bought mine for about two pounds, six years ago. It grows in about a foot of soil in our back yard in the northeast and is now about six feet tall.