← All guides · Seasonality · Updated October 2026

Cherry laurel hedge cutting in Chatham. A year-round calendar.

Cherry laurel is one of the most common garden hedges in Kent: it grows fast, screens well and does not complain about heavy clay. It is also the hedge most often left looking scruffy a fortnight after a cut, because the contractor used a hedge trimmer and sliced half the leaves in two. The right approach depends on the time of year and what you are asking the plant to do.

1. December – January: winter rest and assessment

   Cherry laurel is evergreen but growth slows to nearly nothing in winter. This is the time to step back and take stock: how much height has gone on since the last cut, whether the spread is pressing against a fence or path, and whether any crossing branches inside the canopy need removing. We do not generally cut in December or January unless a branch is damaging a structure or there is storm debris to clear. Cuts heal slowly in cold weather and the plant would rather wait.

   On heavy or poorly drained soil, the ground can be fully saturated by December after a wet autumn. Walking machinery into a waterlogged lawn does more damage to the edges than the hedge benefits from an out-of-season trim.

2. February – late February: the renovation window

   For anyone with a laurel that has been let go for several years, this is the most important window in the calendar. Cherry laurel tolerates hard cutting better than almost any other evergreen: you can take it back to bare wood in February and it will push strong new growth through spring. We use loppers and a pruning saw for this work, not a trimmer.

   The constraint is time. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 1, it is a criminal offence to intentionally damage or destroy a wild bird's nest while it is in use or being built. The Act sets no calendar dates, but RSPB and GOV.UK guidance advises avoiding hedge cutting from 1 March to 31 August. Cherry laurel is a hedge birds can move into early in spring, because its dense canopy offers shelter and warmth before the countryside has leafed out. Any renovation work should be finished by the last week of February at the latest, with a thorough nest check done immediately before the cut. "Immediately before" means the morning of the cut, not the week before: the offence attaches to the moment of damage, not the date of planning. The penalty is a fine, up to six months in prison, or both, counted per nest.

   If a hard renovation is on your list for this year, book for February now rather than waiting until March when the diary is already closed on that kind of work.

3. 1 March – 31 August: nesting-bird period, proceed carefully

   Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 1, intentionally damaging or destroying a wild bird's nest while it is in use or being built is a criminal offence carrying a fine, up to six months in prison, or both, counted per nest. Cherry laurel is a particular risk here because it is a favoured nesting site for robins, dunnocks, blackbirds and song thrushes: the thick glossy canopy offers early shelter, holds warmth well, and can support late broods into August. A dense laurel hedge is a serious piece of nesting habitat.

   Light, routine trimming is lawful during this period provided a visual inspection is carried out immediately before the cut and no active nests are found. Heavy work, anything involving loppers or removing significant growth, waits. See our full seasonal cutting calendar for how this period sits across different species.

4. Late May – early June: first trim of the season

   Cherry laurel puts on a strong first flush of new growth in spring: soft, bright-green leaves that emerge quickly and then harden off over a few weeks into the darker, leathery adult leaf. The first viable shaping cut of the season opens once that hardening has happened, usually the last week of May into early June. Cut the soft new growth too early and it wilts at the cut face; wait until it has toughened and you get a clean edge that holds its colour.

   This is the right cut for gardens that need two trims a year. Use secateurs on any face that is visible from the road or a neighbour's garden: they cut each leaf cleanly at the stem junction rather than slicing through the middle. A hedge trimmer is acceptable for internal cuts and less visible sides. Do a nest check before cutting. Late May is peak nesting season, and dense laurel holds second-brood nests well into July.

5. July – early August: full growth season, light trim only

   A vigorous cherry laurel can add 30-60 cm of new growth in a good growing season, and by July it is at full speed. If width is the problem, a light side trim is fine, but keep the cut minimal: the plant is directing energy into growth, not healing, and a heavy cut now may leave a raw face that does not harden before the first autumn chill. Check for nests before any cutting, late broods in dense evergreen hedges run through to August.

   In an exposed garden near the water, salt-laden or drying wind in July can scorch the windward face of a newly cut laurel. It is worth leaving those sides alone until the growing season is over and cutting them in September.

6. Late August – October: the main annual cut

   The 1 March to 31 August guidance period is not a legal cut-off, and the Act protects any nest in use at any time of year. In practice we begin the main laurel cut from the last full week of August, provided a full visual inspection clears each hedge immediately before the cut: late broods in dense evergreens are a real risk and 31 August is no guarantee that every nest has fledged. This is the cut that sets the shape for winter. Growth slows and stops in November, so the profile you create now is the one you live with until the following May.

   Work from the top down to the target line, then do the sides. On the main visible face, use bypass secateurs or cordless loppers rather than a hedge trimmer. The large laurel leaf, typically 10-20 cm long and glossy, splits badly under a mechanical trimmer blade and shows brown for the rest of the season. This is the most visible difference between a contractor who understands the plant and one who does not.

   October remains a viable window. Growth has stopped on most laurels by late October, but the plant is still active enough to heal wounds cleanly before the frosts arrive. It is best to finish by the end of October, particularly on exposed sites, where early frosts can catch freshly cut faces before they have hardened.

The secateurs question

Cherry laurel leaves are large and glossy, typically 10-20 cm long. A hedge trimmer cuts through the middle of any leaf in its path, leaving a half-leaf that turns brown within two to three weeks. This is why a freshly trimmed laurel hedge often looks worse in mid-June than it did before the cut. Secateurs and bypass loppers cut at the junction of leaf and stem; nothing is sliced in half. The difference is visible from the street and persists for the rest of the season.

On a long hedge, secateurs take longer. We quote accordingly. For the main front face of a street-facing hedge, we would always recommend secateurs. For a quiet garden side return where leaf browning is not a concern, a trimmer does the job fine. We will explain both options and the visual difference when we quote.

For feeding and aftercare once the cut is done, including supporting regrowth after a hard renovation, see our month-by-month aftercare and feeding calendar. If your laurel is badly overgrown and you are weighing up whether renovation is viable, the techniques in our overgrown hedge renovation guide apply to evergreen hedges including laurel. For species comparison if you are considering replanting with something slower-growing and lower-maintenance, see our Medway hedge species guide.

Sources: Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 1 (nesting offence: a fine, up to six months' imprisonment, or both, per nest); Royal Horticultural Society guidance on cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) pruning and timing (rhs.org.uk); Burncoose Nurseries (burncoose.co.uk), UK horticultural nursery, guidance on laurel hedge trimming technique.