The best cherry laurel fertilisers, compared.
Top pick: Substral Thuja-Vital 500 ml Best value: Empathy After Plant evergreen granules 1 kg – Lowest shelf price in this set, about £7.99 for 1 kg, with UK origin and a score close to the top pick. Updated October 2026.
The Royal Horticultural Society says most shrubs thrive without extra feeding. A general-purpose fertiliser in late winter, at the packet rate, is the optional boost, and you should not fertilise after. Nursery guidance treats a balanced granular hedge feed in early spring as the usual choice. Cherry and laurel do not normally need an ericaceous or very high-nitrogen product. A useful pack names evergreens, hedges or cherry laurel, shows an analysis you can read, and matches the job. What to refuse is set out in the [cherry laurel fertiliser buying guide](/hub/fertiliser-soil-and-bark-mulch/cherry-laurel-fertiliser/sub/cherry-laurel-fertiliser-buying-guide). It is not a bay feed, a box tonic, or a citrus bottle from the same amazon.co.uk search.
The Royal Horticultural Society says most shrubs thrive without extra feeding. A general-purpose fertiliser in late winter, at the packet rate, is the optional boost, and you should not fertilise after.
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Personal buying guide
Question 1 of 2
How will you apply it?
Substral Thuja-Vital is a 500 ml liquid at about £22.80, rated 4.5 from 274 on amazon.co.uk. The bullets name thujas, cypress, box, cherry laurel and rhododendron, and they give 1:80 for watering and 1:67 for spray. A separate target-species field says Thuja, and the country of origin is Germany. Of the first 50 written reviews, 49 are marked Germany, and the one UK review says only Good, with no plant named. NPK is not printed. The listing also says browning and dead shoots can be disease, so the anti-brown line is not a cure you can bank on. A Germany-marked note about a 23 ml cap against a 25 ml dose is not UK evidence, and it is not a rate to copy from this page.
Pros
Cons
Best for: A short run where you want a bottle whose bullets name cherry laurel, and you will follow the dilution printed on the pack in your hand.
Less suitable: A long hedge, or anyone treating the 4.5 stars as British comments about laurel.
Specifications
Common questions
Does the listing say this is for cherry laurel?
The bullets name thujas, cypress, box, cherry laurel and rhododendron. A separate target-species field says Thuja. Both are on the listing.
How is the dilution stated?
The mixing-ratio field says 1:80 for watering and 1:67 for spray. NPK is not printed on the captured listing.
Are the written reviews UK shoppers on laurel?
No. Of the first 50 reviews in the captured file, 49 are marked Germany. The one UK review says Good and names no plant.
The Empathy After Plant evergreen pouch is 1 kg of granules at about £7.99, rated 4.4 from 773 amazon.co.uk reviews, with the country of origin listed as the United Kingdom. The target field says evergreens, and the bullets do not name cherry laurel or Portuguese laurel. One UK review of a thin, yellow Portuguese laurel hedge reports lush growth and 30–40 cm after an early-spring use of these granules together with the liquid After Plant feed, so the pouch did not do that job alone. Other UK notes cover holly, leylandii, conifers and a transplanted evergreen hedge that looked greener months later. The mixing-ratio field says 1 capful in 4.5 litres of water, which does not match a dry granule, and NPK is not printed. Several reviewers said the contents looked like soil or shredded grass and did little, and one called the pouch expensive next to a larger tub of general fertiliser. The listing calls it a bio fertiliser and does not say it replaces a planting-hole mycorrhizal product.
Pros
Cons
Best for: An established evergreen hedge measured in metres, where a watered-in sprinkle is easier than carrying a diluted bottle along the row.
Less suitable: A planting hole, and anyone who needs a gram rate printed on the amazon.co.uk page rather than a conflicting capful field.
Specifications
Common questions
Is this the same product as the 1 litre Empathy liquid?
No. This ASIN is a 1 kg granule pouch. The 1 litre bottle is B079WVR4BC. One UK review describes using the granules with that liquid on a Portuguese laurel hedge.
Does the listing print an NPK or a gram rate for a hedge?
Not stated. NPK is not on the captured listing. The mixing-ratio field says 1 capful in 4.5 litres of water, which does not match the granule form.
Does the listing say it replaces a planting-hole mycorrhizal product?
Not stated. The title says bio fertiliser. It does not name Rootgrow or a planting-hole rate.
Across 753 amazon.co.uk ratings at 4.4, the Empathy After Plant evergreen liquid is a 1 litre bottle that UK reviewers have watered onto laurel, Portuguese laurel and other evergreens. One reviewer described a Portuguese laurel hedge that had been thin and yellow for three years, then reported 30–40 cm of growth after an early-spring use together with the granule pouch, so that result is not the bottle on its own. Another said a laurel with root trauma slowed its leaf drop and pushed glossy shoots. The listing dilution is 1:4.5, while the maker's page for the same 1 litre product states 20 ml for new or container plants, or 40 ml for established plants, in 4.5 litres. NPK is not printed on the captured listing, and the country of origin field is empty. The title says RHS endorsed, which is a claim on the title, not a ranking of these four feeds. Complaints include a label that did not match the photograph, three bottles that arrived with the seal open, and hedges that showed no change after half a bottle.
Pros
Cons
Best for: A shorter run of cherry or Portuguese laurel you will dilute and water, when UK comments that name laurel matter more than a sprinkle along a long hedge.
Less suitable: Metres of hedge you want to scatter as granules, or a buyer who needs one agreed dose and a printed NPK before opening the bottle.
Specifications
Common questions
Does the amazon.co.uk listing name cherry laurel?
Not stated. The bullets do not name cherry laurel. The target-species field says evergreen plants. UK reviews in the sample do mention laurel and Portuguese laurel.
What dilution does the listing give?
The mixing-ratio field says 1:4.5. NPK is not printed on the captured listing.
Is the RHS line a test of this comparison?
No. RHS endorsed is a claim in the product title. It is not a ranking of these four listings.
Goulding G60115 is a slow-release granule sold for roses, trees and shrubs, at about £9.37, with 4.4 from 143 ratings and 14 written UK reviews in the saved listing. The unit count is 720 g and the item weight is 750 g, and the file does not reconcile the two. Cherry laurel is not on the title or the target field. The bullets claim the feed lasts up to six months, no gram rate is printed, and the mixing string 1:0:0 is not an NPK. UK reviewers mostly say it is easy to sprinkle and that plants are doing well, while several say the slow release means nothing shows in the season they applied it. One buyer found the same contents list as the general-purpose Goulding tub bought beside it. One review used it on ericaceous plants, which is that buyer's garden, not a laurel instruction.
Pros
Cons
Best for: A small shrub bed where a rose, tree and shrub granule is an acceptable label and you can wait on a slow release.
Less suitable: A laurel hedge you want named on the pack, or a buyer who needs a gram rate before spreading.
Specifications
Common questions
Does this listing name cherry laurel?
Not stated. The title and the target-species field say rose, tree and shrub.
How much is in the pack?
The unit count is 720 g. The item-weight field is 750 g. The captured listing does not reconcile the two.
Is an NPK printed?
Not stated. The mixing-ratio field reads 1:0:0. That string is not used here as an NPK.
Four amazon.co.uk listings were scored from the stored pages and the review notes already on file. Shelf date 19 October 2026. This is not a laboratory test. The Royal Horticultural Society is context for whether a healthy hedge needs feed. It is not a score for these bottles. Price is shown beside the score. It is not a fifth weight. A written sample that is mostly marked Germany loses most of the Amazon-evidence block even when the star line is higher. Where a field contradicts the form, that clash is a deduction. NPK is missing on every row, so that gap is a deduction on every row. The highest score is the top pick. The best value is the lowest shelf price in the set, and it does not also take the top score. The weights below sum to 100.
Amazon evidence
35%Star rating and review count on amazon.co.uk. A written sample that is mostly marked Germany loses most of this block even when the star line is higher. Empathy's samples are marked United Kingdom. Substral's sample is mostly marked Germany.
Listing fit
35%A plant name a laurel owner can use, a form, and a dilution or rate you can read. NPK missing is a deduction on every row, because none of these listings prints one. A field that contradicts the form loses more.
UK review outcome
30%Comments in reviews marked United Kingdom that name laurel, a hedge, or an evergreen. Germany-marked text does not fill this block.
Check whether the hedge needs feed at all, then match the plant on the label and the form to the length of the row. Prices below are amazon.co.uk shelf prices on 19 October 2026. This is not a laboratory test.
Cherry laurel fertiliser is a feed you might put on Prunus laurocerasus or Portuguese laurel (Prunus lusitanica). It is not a bay feed, a box tonic, or a citrus bottle from the same amazon.co.uk search. The Royal Horticultural Society says most shrubs thrive without extra feeding. A general-purpose fertiliser in late winter, at the packet rate, is the optional boost. You should not fertilise after September.
Ericaceous, citrus, acer, box and clematis products can rank beside laurel. Cherry and Portuguese laurel do not normally need an ericaceous or very high-nitrogen feed.
Drought, waterlogging, shot hole and powdery mildew are not fixed by a bottle. Magnesium yellowing between the veins has its own RHS rate. Do not feed after September, and do not pile granules against the bark.
Substral's star line is 4.5 from 274 on amazon.co.uk. Of the first 50 written reviews, 49 are marked Germany. That text is not a British comment about laurel.
The first check is the plant named on the pack. Keep a label that says evergreen, hedge, tree and shrub, or cherry laurel. Drop ericaceous, citrus, acer, clematis and box-only tablets, even when they appear in the same amazon.co.uk search. Cherry and Portuguese laurel do not normally need an ericaceous or very high-nitrogen product. A healthy hedge in decent soil often needs no feed at all.
Form follows the length of the hedge. Granules are the usual choice for metres of row: sprinkle and water in, and keep them off the bark. The Empathy 1 kg pouch is about £7.99 and lists the United Kingdom as country of origin. Its mixing field says 1 capful in 4.5 litres, which clashes with a granule. The maker's page treats that pouch as a follow-on, not a substitute for pure Rootgrow in the planting hole, at about 25–50 g per plant or 50 g per square metre under larger canopies.
Three typical situations, each with a recommendation from this comparison.
Mulch and water first. If growth is weak, one spring sprinkle is the usual buy. Empathy After Plant evergreen granules, 1 kg, are about £7.99, with 4.4 from 773 reviews and the United Kingdom listed as origin. The mixing field does not match a granule, and NPK is not printed.
Empathy After Plant evergreen liquid, 1 litre, is the top pick at about £9.46, with 4.4 from 753 reviews. UK comments name laurel and Portuguese laurel. The listing dilution is 1:4.5, which does not match the maker's 20 ml or 40 ml in 4.5 litres. The listing does not name cherry laurel.
Substral Thuja-Vital, 500 ml, is the only listing here whose bullets name cherry laurel. A separate field says Thuja. It is about £22.80, with 4.5 from 274 ratings, and 49 of 50 written reviews are marked Germany. Follow the dilution on the pack in your hand. It is a poor fit for a long hedge.
The top pick for a shorter run you will dilute is Empathy After Plant evergreen liquid, 1 litre, at about £9.46. It scored highest, with 4.4 from 753 reviews and UK comments that name laurel. The listing does not name cherry laurel, and the dilution field does not match the maker's millilitre rates. The best value is the 1 kg Empathy granule pouch at about £7.99, the lowest price in this set, for metres of evergreen hedge. Goulding is a rose, tree and shrub granule with no laurel on the label. Substral's bullets name cherry laurel, the target field says Thuja, and the written sample is mostly marked Germany. None of these scores is a laboratory test, and none of the listings prints an NPK.
Empathy After Plant evergreen granules 1 kg
Lowest shelf price in this set, about £7.99 for 1 kg, with UK origin and a score close to the top pick.
Editorial
Peter F. is the editor for DIY & tools at productscompared.co.uk. Comparisons in this category are checked against amazon.co.uk listings, review evidence and public UK sources.
Guides on what to look for, how to use a product, and common mistakes.
Public UK and maker sources from the research digest, used for this page in October 2026. Prices, stars and review counts are from the four amazon.co.uk listings captured on 19 October 2026. The RHS did not rank these listings. A Germany-marked review is not UK opinion. Empathy's gram rates are the maker's statement, not a line on the amazon granule listing.
Expert source (DIY & tools): Lee Burkhill (Garden Ninja) (external profile) – public expert commentary used as a research source, not as a contributor to our pages.
This page contains affiliate links to amazon.co.uk (tag pcuk26-21). If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Prices, stars and review counts are from the listings. This is not a laboratory test.
