Schip Laurel

Prunus laurocerasus ‘Schipkaensis’

Plant Details

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 6a-8b Find Your Zone

Plant Type: Evergreen Flowering Shrub

Height at Maturity: 6-15′ depending on pruning

Width at Maturity: 5-7′ depending on pruning

Spacing: 4-5′ for solid hedges or privacy screens; 10′ for space between plants

Growth Habit / Form: Dense, Upright

Growth Rate: Fast – Up to 2 feet per year!

Flower Color: White

Flower Size: Small, packed on spikes (candles)

Flowering Period: Spring

Flower Type: Single

Fragrant Flowers: Yes!

Foliage Color: Very Deep Green

Fragrant Foliage: No

Berries: Yes, somewhat inconspicuous

Berry Color: Black

Sun Needs: Full Sun, Full Shade, Morning Sun With Afternoon Shade. Filtered Sun, Morning Shade With Afternoon Sun

Water Needs: Average

Soil Type: Clay (amended), Loam, Sand, Silt

Soil Moisture / Drainage: Moist But Well-drained

Soil pH: 4.5 – 7.5 (Very Acid to Slightly Alkaline)

Maintenance / Care: Low to Average

Attracts: Birds, Visual Attention

Resistances: Drought (moderate when established), Shade

Description

A very adaptable and fast growing evergreen shrub that will grow in sun or shade, the Schip Laurel, sometimes referred to as the Schip Cherry Laurel and misspelled as “skip laurel,” is prized for its high-gloss foliage and highly fragrant flowers in spring. Adding up to 2 feet in height per year, the deep green shiny leaves of Schip Laurel form a dense evergreen shrub with a year-round “polished” look that is perfect as an accent or to frame corners in home foundations or to form a quick hedge or privacy screen.

In spring, loads of fragrant white flower “candles” are very pretty against the dark foliage, adding to the overall appeal of the plant. Without pruning, the Schip Laurel grows up to 15 feet tall and 6 to 7 feet wide. That said, plants can be maintained at about half those dimensions with an annual pruning or two. If you’re looking to add an elegant plant to your home foundation planting or landscape border the Schip Laurel is sure to fit the bill!

Landscape & Garden Uses

Growing upright from 6 to 15 feet tall and 5 to 7 feet wide (depending on pruning), the Schip Laurel is ideal for use as an accent, in groupings or as a natural or formal hedge in sunny or shady home foundation plantings and landscape borders. A fine addition to fragrance gardens and formal gardens.

Suggested Spacing: 4 to 5′ for solid hedges or privacy screens; 10′ for space between plants

Note: For our customers who live and garden north of USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6a, where this Laurel is not reliably winter hardy, you’ll be happy to know it can be grown in containers that can be brought indoors during winter and placed back outside when temperatures warm up in spring.

Growing Preferences

The Schip Laurel is easy to grow in most a moist, well-drained soil rich in organic matter and full sun to part shade. Well-drained soil is essential. As with so many other ornamental shrubs, constantly soggy or wet soil can cause problems with the roots. In USDA Zone 8 plants will perform and look their best when provided some shade or filtered sun during the hot, mid-afternoon hours. Here in USDA Zone 8a of Georgia we’ve had success growing them in almost full shade. In the cooler climates of USDA Zones 6 and 7 plants will tolerate full sun to almost full shade.

Helpful Articles

Click on the link below to find helpful advice from our experts on how to plant, fertilize, prune and water Laurel shrubs

How To Plant And Care For English Cherry Laurels

Plant Long & Prosper!

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Questions? Contact Us

Plants arrived quickly and in healthy condition. Packing was well done. I didn’t realize there was unpacking instructions so it took me longer. I had to wait for a couple of weeks before I could plant them but they seemed to be alright. I anticipate they will do fine and I plan to purchase again from Wilson Brothers Gardens.—————————————-Thanks for the kind words and awesome review! We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

PLANTS CAME IN AS DESCRIBED..SHIPPING WAS FREE AND ON TIME..THE WILSON BROS, ARE GOOD PEOPLE.. BUY WITH CONFIDENCE FROM THIS COMPANY.
SINCERELY,
NICK—————————————————————Thanks for the kind words and awesome review! We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

Ordered 12 of these and it arrived earlier than I expected. Each one of them was meticulously packaged and shipped. I couldn’t be happier with my buying experience. The plants stayed out in the pots for a couple of weeks until I got the ground ready and it already started growing by then. They are all planted now. I am looking to order more but looks like it is sold out. Maybe I’ll order again in the fall. Thank you for an amazing experience.——————————————————–You are welcome! Thanks for the kind words and awesome review! We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

The shrubs were in excellent health, packed very safe and arrived with damp soil. Good pruning for new growth which has already started after being in the ground for 2 weeks. Excellent shipping by FedEx with no damage to boxes or contents. Highly recommend Wilson Brothers for buying your nursery needs. 5??’s.—————————————————Thanks for the kind words and awesome review! We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

We’re putting a laurel hedge on our property line. We bought several from another retailer (located closer to NJ) who’s quality ranged from “okay” to “dead on arrival”. We were not happy. So, I purchased a batch from Wilson Bros Gardens because I wanted a new supplier. The pots were packaged very well and the plants were healthy on arrival. We still need more pots and I plan to purchase them from Wilson Bros Gardens.———————————————————–We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

I have ordered several times from Wilson and always get it so fast and in such good condition. I highly recommend them for your garden needs.—————————————————We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

Even though my laurel plants were delayed several days due to current delivery slow-down conditions, they arrived in perfect condition.
Another successful result from wilsonbrosgardens! We love you!!!—————————————–We are so glad you are pleased with your purchase! Thanks for the kind words and great review! Beth | WBG 🙂

Ordered several schip laurel trees (1-gal pots) on several occasions and each time, plants were delivered in excellent condition. In fact, one order was for 48 plants; the plants were delivered within a few days of ordering, much sooner than anticipated. We were out of town when the plants were delivered so our neighbor kept the plants (still in shipping boxes) in their garage. When we returned home about a week later, we unpacked the plants to find all of them in perfect condition. Each pot was so well packed; the top of each pot was packed down with paper and taped to helped seal in moisture. We’ve planted each plant in the ground and all seem to be doing well. I am extremely impressed with the quality of Wilson Brothers’ plants and the quality of their packaging/shipping. Even after the plants were left unopened in their shipping boxes for over a week in the garage, the soil was still moist. I have since placed several subsequent orders and all were shipped with the same exceptional quality. I will continue to order from Wilson Brothers Gardens.—————————————–We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks so much for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

Plants arrived well packaged and healthy. Well pleased with price, quality of plants and timely shipment.—————————————We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

A little smaller than expected but in the ground and already have new growth!————————————–We are glad you are pleased with your purchase! Thanks for the review! Beth | WBG 🙂

We purchased 6 of these and they all arrived in fantastic shape, were packaged very well and were all a bit bigger than I thought. We’ve only had them in the ground for a few weeks, but they appear to be doing well. Of course, it will take at least a few months and more likely a few years before we really start see them in all their glory, but I am very pleased with this purchase and with Wilson Bros. We had to do a complete redo of 3/4 acre yard because of downed trees and the mess that left and I have ordered from a lot of outlets online and in person – I wish I would have found Wilson Bros. sooner.————————————-We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the great review! Thanks for the kind words! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

This plant arrived in very good condition, and was packaged well. It’s been a couple of weeks since it was delivered and it’s doing great. Would absolutely order from Wilson Brothers again!———————————————Thanks for the kind words!! We are so glad you are pleased with your purchase! Thanks for the great review! Beth | WBG 🙂

This was my first order with Wilson Brothers, and everything went well. The laurels were packaged nicely with damp paper on top of the soil with packing tape holding it together for each of the six plants. The package box itself held together well, the laurels looked great, and I’ll be back for more.————————————–We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG