The best cherry laurels, compared.
Top pick: Carbeth Rotundifolia, 10 plants – Highest score at 73: ten 3 L plants at about £70.99, a usable run without the fifteen-plant spend on the same review texts. Best value: Carbeth Rotundifolia, 15 plants – About £6.73 a plant at about £100.99, the lowest unit price, only when the row needs about fifteen plants. Updated 21 October 2026.
Cherry laurel on amazon.co.uk is laurocerasus, an evergreen grown in the UK as a privacy hedge. It is not culinary bay, and it is not a fruiting cherry. The RHS describes glossy leaves, white spring flowers, a height of 4–8 m and hardiness. Novita is rated H6 and can take full shade. Judge a listing by cultivar, arrival height and a spacing you measured. Leaves, berries and cuttings are harmful if eaten. How to match pot and plant count to the row is in the [cherry laurel buying guide](/hub/hedges-and-privacy-screens/cherry-laurel/sub/cherry-laurel-buying-guide). Once it is a tall evergreen barrier it can also be a neighbour problem. Artificial stems and flowering cherries are not this category. The RHS rates Novita H6 and lists full shade as well as sun. Caucasica is the narrower hedge and is not in this set.
Cherry laurel on amazon.co.uk is laurocerasus, an evergreen grown in the UK as a privacy hedge. It is not culinary bay, and it is not a fruiting cherry.
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Personal buying guide
Question 1 of 2
Which cultivar are you planting?
Ten Carbeth Rotundifolia in 3 L pots cost about £70.99, about £7.10 each, with the same 60–80 cm statement and the same 600 mm spacing as the five-plant listing. In this set that is the practical middle run: more plants than a trial, and less money committed than the fifteen-plant box, on an identical review line. The star line is again 4.6 from 3 reviews, and the texts match the other Carbeth ASINs, including healthy plants, a size that includes the pot, variation within the delivery, and a replacement. The listing asks whether the plants can stay in the 3 L pots and the bullets do not answer; they are sold for well-draining soil in full sun or partial shade. A monthly summer trim is printed as an instruction, which is tighter than the RHS habit of pruning Prunus laurocerasus twice in the growing season, so do not treat monthly as a requirement. The 90 cm-a-year line remains a seller claim. It is the top pick here when your count lands near ten plants at 600 mm and the soil is not shallow chalk; it is the wrong pack if three shared reviews are not enough evidence for an order of about £70.99.
Pros
Cons
Best for: Your measured row is about ten plants at 600 mm, on soil that is not shallow chalk.
Less suitable: You need a long review history, an instant tall screen, or only one or two plants.
Specifications
Common questions
Can this 10-plant pack stay in the 3 L pots?
The listing asks whether it can be grown in a pot, but the bullets do not answer. The plants are supplied in 3 L pots for planting as a hedge.
What does the listing claim it will grow to?
The bullets say 4–8 m high and 2.5–4 m spread when mature, and at least 90 cm of growth a year. Those are seller claims.
Why is the review count the same as the 5-plant listing?
This listing shows 4.6 from 3 reviews, and the three review texts match the 5-plant and 15-plant listings.
Fifteen Rotundifolia in 3 L pots are about £100.99, about £6.73 a plant, the lowest unit price in this amazon.co.uk set. The plants, the 60–80 cm line, the 600 mm spacing and the three review texts are the same material as the five- and ten-plant listings, so you are buying quantity, not a better-reviewed plant. Reviewers mention healthy plants, varied size, and a stated height that includes the pot; one problem was put right by a replacement. The attribute line says full sun while the bullets say full sunlight to partial shade, in well-draining soil. The page does not state how many metres fifteen plants cover, so you still multiply your own spacing. At this spend the thin, duplicated review line is the limit: the best value only if you have measured a row that actually needs about fifteen plants. If the run is shorter, the ten-plant pack leaves fewer spare pots. Shallow chalk, and a wish for a tall screen this summer, are reasons to leave all three Carbeth boxes.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You have measured a run that needs about fifteen Rotundifolia at 600 mm.
Less suitable: The boundary is shorter than that, or you will not order about £100.99 on three shared reviews.
Specifications
Common questions
Does the 15-plant listing give a finished hedge length?
No. It says plant 600 mm apart in well-draining soil, in full sun or partial shade. It does not state how many metres 15 plants will cover.
Does the listing limit this pack to full sun?
The attribute line says full sun. The bullets say full sunlight to partial shade, in well-draining soil.
What did the three reviews actually complain about?
One review says the stated size includes the pot and that plant size varied. Another describes a replacement after a plant problem. None of the three describes the plants dying after planting.
Carbeth's five-plant Rotundifolia pack is five Prunus laurocerasus in 3 L pots at about £37.99, stated 60–80 cm, with a hedging space of 600 mm. At about £7.60 a plant it is the smallest 3 L run in this set, enough for a short row if you use that 600 mm figure, and not a finished screen in the first summer. The amazon.co.uk line is 4.6 from 3 reviews, and those three texts are the same ones on the 10-plant and 15-plant ASINs, so they are not three independent trials of this pack. Reviewers describe healthy, well-packed plants, say the stated size includes the pot, and note that sizes varied; one problem was resolved by a replacement, and none of the three describes plants dying after planting. The bullets claim at least 90 cm of growth a year and a mature size of 4–8 m by 2.5–4 m; the annual figure is the seller's line, not an RHS measurement. The species page is H5 and warns of yellowing on poorer, shallow chalk. Buy the five when you want a 3 L start without spending about £100.99; leave them on shallow chalk or if you need a tall screen this year.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You want a short Rotundifolia trial in 3 L pots and can accept three shared reviews.
Less suitable: Your row needs far more than five plants, or the soil is poor shallow chalk.
Specifications
Common questions
Does the stated 60–80 cm include the pot?
The bullets say the plants measure 60–80 cm and arrive in 3 L pots. They do not say the pot is excluded. One review says the stated size includes the pot.
How far apart does Carbeth say to plant these?
The listing says 600 mm apart for hedging, in sun or partial shade and well-draining soil.
Are the three reviews unique to the 5-plant pack?
The listing has 4.6 from 3 reviews. The same three texts also appear on the 10-plant and 15-plant listings.
Two Easy Plants Novita arrive in 17 cm pots at about £24.99, about £12.50 each, with the same stated height of 60–70 cm including the pot. The title and the piece count say two plants, though a bullet also invites you to buy one or two pots, so check the style name before you assume a pair has been reserved. The listing has no star rating, so the pair is not a reviewed hedge. The colour attribute says White while the bullets describe glossy mid-green leaves and creamy-white flowers in April. A question on the page asks whether Novita is deer resistant, and the bullets do not answer it. At this price you are close to five Carbeth Rotundifolia in 3 L pots at about £37.99, for two smaller pots and no spacing line. It suits a short trial of two plants where shade is the point, because the RHS says Novita can take full shade; it is a weak way to start a boundary.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You want two Novita plants to compare in a shady spot before a longer order.
Less suitable: You are pricing a real run and would rather spend near this money on 3 L Rotundifolia.
Specifications
Common questions
How many plants are in this Easy Plants listing?
The title, style name and piece count say 2 plants. A bullet also says you are welcome to buy 1 or 2 pots.
Does the colour line match the leaf description?
The colour attribute says White. The bullets say glossy mid-green leaves and creamy-white flowers in April.
Does the listing answer whether Novita is deer resistant?
The page asks the question. The bullets do not answer it, so that point is not stated.
The Easy Plants listing is one Prunus laurocerasus Novita in a 17 cm grower's pot, stated at 60–70 cm including the pot, at about £13.99 on amazon.co.uk. That is a single young plant, not a measured hedge, and the listing gives no spacing figure you could turn into a row. The RHS lists Novita as hardy to H6 and able to grow in full shade as well as sun, while this page only prints full sun, so the listing understates the light range. There is no customer-review line on the listing, which means you cannot judge delivery or size from UK stars on this ASIN. The watering copy mixes moderate watering with once a month, which is a poor rule for a first July. Leaves and the small black berries named on the page are harmful if eaten, as with the rest of the species. It is the cheap way to see Novita in your soil before a longer order, and a poor start if you already need several metres of screen.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You want one Novita to try in your soil before you commit to a row.
Less suitable: You need a counted hedge this season, or a listing that prints spacing and UK reviews.
Specifications
Common questions
How tall is this single Novita when it arrives?
The listing says 60–70 cm tall including the pot height. It does not give a mature height.
Does the listing say how far apart to plant it?
No spacing figure is on the listing. The bullets say you can maintain it with shears or secateurs.
Is there a UK star rating on this listing?
The listing has no customer-review line, so no star rating is shown.
Scores use the five amazon.co.uk listings in this comparison. They are editorial, from 0 to 100, and they are not a lab test. The same three Carbeth review texts appear on all three Rotundifolia ASINs, so they are counted once as evidence, not three times. Weights sum to 100. The highest score is the top pick. The best unit price, on a different listing, is the best value only when the row needs that count.
Amazon evidence
30%A missing review line scores low. A 4.6 from three shared UK texts scores modestly. A larger cash outlay on that same set of texts is docked. The three Carbeth texts are counted once, not once per pack size.
Fit for a hedge
40%Cultivar suited to a screen, pot size, stated arrival height, a spacing figure, and a light line that matches a UK garden. A 17 cm pot with no spacing scores down. Rotundifolia in a 3 L pot with 600 mm printed scores higher.
Value
30%Shelf price per plant, with the 3 L pot named against the 17 cm pot. The fifteen-plant pack is about £6.73 a plant. Lowest unit price is not the best value if you do not need the quantity.
Name the plant, then the pot and the metres you are filling. Rotundifolia in a 3 L pot and Novita in a 17 cm pot are different starts, and three shared reviews are not a trial.
Cherry laurel is Prunus laurocerasus, an evergreen used in the UK as a privacy hedge. It is not culinary bay, and it is not a fruiting cherry. The RHS describes glossy leaves, white spring flowers, red fruits that turn black, a height of 4–8 m, a spread wider than 8 m if you never prune, and hardiness H5. An untrimmed row becomes a wide shrub. Once it is a tall evergreen barrier it can also be a neighbour problem. Leaves, berries and cuttings are harmful if eaten.
Cherry laurel is Prunus laurocerasus. Bay is the culinary herb. Spotted laurel is Aucuba. Portuguese laurel is Prunus lusitanica. Artificial stems and flowering cherries are different purchases.
At least 90 cm of growth a year is the Carbeth listing. It is not an RHS measurement. A reviewer also said the stated Carbeth height includes the pot.
The only star line is 4.6 from three reviews, and the same three texts sit on the five-, ten- and fifteen-plant Carbeth listings. Count them once. The Novita listings have no star line.
Name the plant first. Rotundifolia is the Carbeth hedge form in 3 L pots. Novita is the Easy Plants form in a 17 cm pot; the RHS rates it H6 and lists full shade as well as sun, while the listing only prints full sun. Otto Luyken stays low and is not these pots. Caucasica is the narrower hedge and is not in this set. Site cherry laurel in moist but well-drained soil, in sun or partial shade.
Carbeth says 600 mm. BBC Gardeners' World says about 60–90 cm for a single row. A UK garden centre spaces 2–3 ft plants at about 30–40 cm. Use the figure that matches the size you bought, then measure the row. Five plants at 600 mm are a short run at about £37.99. Ten at about £70.99 are the top pick because they cover more ground without the fifteen-plant spend on the same review texts. Fifteen at about £100.99, about £6.73 a plant, are the best value only when the row needs that count.
Three typical situations, each with a recommendation from this comparison.
You want a green screen and you will trim it. The ten-plant Carbeth Rotundifolia is the top pick: about £70.99, 3 L pots, 600 mm printed, score 73. The 4.6 from three reviews is shared with the other Carbeth packs, so this is a count decision, not a separate trial.
You have measured a run that needs about fifteen plants at 600 mm. The fifteen-plant pack is the best value at about £100.99, about £6.73 a plant. Skip it if the row is shorter. The review texts are the same three as on the ten-plant listing.
You want to try Novita where the spot is shady. The RHS rates Novita H6 and lists full shade as well as sun. Two plants at about £24.99 let you compare them before a longer order. The listing has no star line and no spacing, and a 17 cm pot is a smaller start than a 3 L Rotundifolia.
The top pick is Carbeth Rotundifolia, ten plants in 3 L pots, at about £70.99. It scores 73 because the pack is a usable run and it avoids spending about £100.99 on the same three review texts. Those texts are 4.6 from three shared reviews, which is a thin line, not a lab result. Best value is the fifteen-plant pack at about £100.99, about £6.73 a plant, only when the row needs that count. Skip both on poor shallow chalk, and skip the 17 cm Novita pots if you already need several metres of screen.
Carbeth Rotundifolia, 10 plants
Highest score at 73: ten 3 L plants at about £70.99, a usable run without the fifteen-plant spend on the same review texts.
Carbeth Rotundifolia, 15 plants
About £6.73 a plant at about £100.99, the lowest unit price, only when the row needs about fifteen plants.
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 sources named below. amazon.co.uk prices, stars and review counts are from the five listings in this comparison. Page updated 21 October 2026.
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 taken from those listings. We did not run a lab test.
