Spotted Laurel (Japanese Laurel) Profile: Plant Info & Care Guide

Spotted Laurel (Aucuba japonica), also known as Japanese laurel, Japanese aucuba or gold dust plant, is a variety of green tree of the genus Aucuba in the family Cornus. Spotted Laurel is an evergreen shrub with thick round branches, opposite leaves, small flowers, purplish red or dark purple, and bright red fruit, and is widely cultivated in China.

Spotted Laurel Picture

Features of Spotted Laurel

The leaves of Spotted Laurel have yellow or yellowish spots of varying size, and the plants are often 1 -- 1.5 m tall. It is easy to distinguish from the original variety.

Distribution of Spotted Laurel

Spotted Laurel is originally produced in Japan and China Taiwan, China is widely cultivated. Distribution in Hubei: Wuhan, Shiyan.

Pruning Spotted Laurel

The frequency of pruning relies upon the structure and measurement you prefer the plant to develop to. Without pruning, Spotted Laurels will develop pretty fortunately and shape a bush, sized about 3m / 10ft excessive and huge after fifteen years or so.

For these of you who pick a smaller shrub then pruning can be achieved any time between March and mid May. We would not recommend pruning after late July due to the fact the younger shoots which show up after pruning may additionally nicely be gentle and without problems broken with the aid of early frosts. We would no longer prune these shrubs till they attain 5 or extra years old.

Pruning is absolutely a count number of slicing the shrub again to form and size. Prune the stems and keep away from reducing the leaves. If you reduce the leaves they will discolour at the edges even though they develop thru this after a year.

A regularly requested query is how a long way returned can I prune an overgrown Spotted Laurel? They can be reduced again very severely and on our trip they constantly come back. An out of control plant can be pruned lower back to 60cm / 2ft high. The great time to do this kind of drastic pruning is in May time when the plant is developing strongly.

If you have any reduced plant life in the residence when you prune your Spotted Laurel, use the variegated leaves as foliage in the plant arrangement.

Growing Spotted Laurel in Containers

A single Japanese Laurel will develop very fortunately in a giant container. A diameter of 45cm or greater is about right. Fill with both preferred multi-purpose compost or a John Innes kind loam. This shrub makes a perfect container plant for a darkish nook due to the fact it grows slowly, flourishes in low mild stages and is surely bother free.

Japanese laurel ought to be fed month-to-month between mid March to mid August with a handful of blood, fish and bone. It will require normal watering. Wait every time till the pinnacle 3cm of the compost is dry and then water well.

Pruning is as described above even though you may additionally prune greater regularly to preserve the plant to structure and a terrific measurement for the container. It does assist if the shrub is in a heavy container to keep away from it without difficulty being blown over.

Spotted Laurel Pests & Diseases

Japanese Laurels are one of the healthiest shrubs to develop in the UK. Occasionally they can go through from blackening a small wide variety of leaves.

How to Propagate Spotted Laurel

Spotted Laurels are convenient to propagate and the probabilities of success, even for very newbie gardeners, are very high. The following tips will make certain the excellent outcome:

Take the cuttings in late July to early September time. If the bush is some distance away take a plastic bag to save the cuttings in and forestall moisture loss. Also, take the slicing longer than wanted and make the closing reduce (see below) when you are geared up to plant the cutting. This will minimise the reduced recovery over which makes rooting greater difficult.

Select a stem which is about 1cm thick and reduce it off simply under a leaf node to go away a 8cm / 3in cutting. The slicing has to be semi-ripe which capacity now is not a new smooth boom and neither difficult ancient growth. Somewhere in between is best.

Remove the decreased leaves of the cutting of Japanese Laurels. Don't be afraid to cleanly reduce the final leaves to decrease the leaf area.

Fill an 8cm broad pot with multi-purpose and insert three evenly spaced cuttings in it about 4cm / 1.5in deep.

Gently company the compost down round the cuttings to make certain it is in right contact with the stem. You may additionally choose to take a couple of cuttings to make sure the satisfactory hazard of success.

Place the pot in a shallow tray / bowl of water for half of an hour so that it absorbs a desirable quantity of water but the pinnacle section is now not water-logged.

Remove the pot from the water and cool it with a grasp movie or a small plastic bag and aid it so that it does not now contact the leaves. Plant markers are accurate for this purpose.

Place the pot in a shaded and cool (but now not cold) position.

The cuttings need to commence to root in two to three weeks and at this factor do away with the plastic bag. The cuttings have to then develop and the exceptional time to plant them out in their last function is subsequent April / May when the chance of frost has passed.

During that time maintain the rooted cuttings in a bloodless greenhouse or backyard in a shaded role out of the way of harsh weather. They may additionally nicely want watering, hold the compost barely moist however now not waterlogged.

Uses of Spotted Laurel

Spotted Laurel can be used as an ornamental plant.