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Cherry laurel hedging plants: count the row before you order

Updated: 21 October 2026

You are standing on a UK boundary with a tape measure, and the search results call four different plants a laurel. Cherry laurel hedging plants are Prunus laurocerasus, the evergreen privacy hedge, not culinary bay and not Portuguese laurel. This page starts from the garden: cultivar, pot and plant count. The [cherry laurel comparison](/hub/hedges-and-privacy-screens/cherry-laurel) is the five amazon.co.uk packs checked on 19 October 2026, from a single Novita at £13.99 to fifteen Rotundifolia at £100.99. This page is from Peter F. on 21 October 2026. We did not grow these plants. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You are standing on a UK boundary with a tape measure, and the search results call four different plants a laurel.

Our top picks

Carbeth Plants Carbeth Rotundifolia, 10 plants

Best overall

Carbeth Plants Carbeth Rotundifolia, 10 plants
8.3/10about £70.99
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Carbeth Plants Carbeth Rotundifolia, 15 plants

Best value

Carbeth Plants Carbeth Rotundifolia, 15 plants
8.2/10about £100.99
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Easy Plants Easy Plants Novita, 1 plant

Alternative

Easy Plants Easy Plants Novita, 1 plant
4.2/10about £13.99
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On this page
  1. 1.Which laurel you are actually buying
  2. 2.What has to be true of the garden
  3. 3.Pots, heights and how many plants
  4. 4.What these Amazon listings do not tell you

Which laurel you are actually buying

Prunus laurocerasus has glossy leaves, white spring flowers and fruits that turn from red to black. The RHS gives the species a height of 4–8 m, a spread wider than 8 m if you never prune, and hardiness H5. In this set Rotundifolia is the Carbeth hedge form in 3 L pots, and Novita is the Easy Plants form in a 17 cm pot. Bay, Laurus nobilis, is the leaf you cook with. Portuguese laurel, Prunus lusitanica, is the RHS plant for poor, shallow chalk, and it is not one of these five listings. The RHS rates Novita H6 and lists full shade. The Easy Plants pages only print full sun.

What has to be true of the garden

Cherry laurel wants moist but well-drained soil, in sun or partial shade. BBC Gardeners' World says to avoid planting it beside woodland. Shallow chalk should stop the order. The RHS says the leaves may yellow on poorer, shallow chalk, and that Portuguese laurel thrives there. If that is your garden, read cherry laurel or Portuguese laurel before you add a pot. Novita's RHS entry includes full shade, so the £13.99 single or the £24.99 pair can be a trial in a dark side return. Leaves, berries and cuttings are harmful if eaten.
Carbeth Plants Carbeth Rotundifolia, 10 plants

Testsieger

Carbeth Plants Carbeth Rotundifolia, 10 plants
8.3/10about £70.99
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Pots, heights and how many plants

Carbeth says 60–80 cm in a 3 L pot, and a reviewer said that figure includes the pot. Easy Plants says 60–70 cm including the pot. That will not hide a first-floor window this summer. These five listings are pot-grown, not bare-root. Carbeth prints 600 mm. Gardeners' World says about 60–90 cm. A garden-centre chart uses about 30–40 cm for 2–3 ft plants. Do not average them. At 60 cm centres on a 5 m run, with the first plant at the start, you land nine plants and 20 cm left. Fifteen plants at 600 mm cover on the order of 8 m of centres. The listing never states that length. Five Rotundifolia are £37.99, about £7.60 in 3 L. Ten are £70.99. Fifteen are £100.99, about £6.73. One Novita is £13.99 in a 17 cm pot. Depth and the first water are on how to plant a cherry laurel hedge.

What these Amazon listings do not tell you

The only star line is 4.6 from 3 reviews, copied across the three Carbeth ASINs. They describe healthy plants, a height that includes the pot, mixed sizes, and a replacement. That is not fifteen hedges. Easy Plants has no review line. Carbeth's at least 90 cm a year is the seller's sentence. A trade rule of thumb is 30–60 cm a year. If the count, the soil and the pot agree, the best cherry laurel in this set says who should take five, ten, fifteen or a single Novita.

Common questions

Is cherry laurel the same as bay?
No. Cherry laurel is Prunus laurocerasus, an evergreen hedge plant. Bay is Laurus nobilis, the herb. A title that only says laurel does not settle it. Buy the botanical name, Rotundifolia or Novita, if you want the hedge in this comparison. Portuguese laurel is a third species and is not one of these five packs.
How many plants do I need at 60 cm centres?
Count centres, and say so. On a 5 m run, with the first plant at the start and the next every 60 cm, you place plants at 0, 0.6, 1.2, up to 4.8 m. That is nine plants, and 20 cm of run left over. It is an assumption you chose, not a length printed on the Carbeth page. At 90 cm centres the same run needs fewer plants. At 30–40 cm it needs more.
Rotundifolia or Novita in a cold or shady garden?
Novita is the one with an RHS hardiness of H6, and the RHS lists full shade as well as sun. The species, which covers Rotundifolia, is H5, and the Carbeth bullets say full sun to partial shade. For a long hedge in ordinary light, Rotundifolia in the 3 L pots is the format in this set. For one or two plants in deeper shade, the Novita pots match the RHS note better than the Easy Plants full-sun line alone.
Can I plant cherry laurel on chalk?
On poorer, shallow chalk the RHS says cherry laurel may yellow. That is a reason to switch species, not to buy a bigger pack of the same plant. Portuguese laurel is the RHS plant that thrives on that chalk, and it is not sold in this Amazon table. Ordinary well-drained soil that is not a thin chalk crust is a different case, and cherry laurel can stay on the list.
Do three shared reviews mean the plants are reliable?
They mean three UK texts, copied across the 5-, 10- and 15-plant Carbeth listings. The texts praise health and packing, complain that size includes the pot and that plants varied, and mention a replacement. That is too small a sample to call the cultivar reliable, and it says nothing about the Novita pots, which have no review line on the listing.

Related pages

Is cherry laurel poisonous?

Cherry laurel hedge

Best cherry laurel for a hedge in this UK Amazon set

How to plant a cherry laurel hedge: depth and water

Cherry laurel vs Portuguese laurel on chalky soils

Sources

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.

  1. RHS, Prunus laurocerasus (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  2. RHS, Prunus laurocerasus Novita (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  3. RHS, Prunus lusitanica (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  4. GOV.UK, high hedges: complaining to the council (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  5. High Hedges (Scotland) Act 2013 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  6. High Hedges Act (Northern Ireland) 2011, section 2 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  7. Veterinary Poisons Information Service, cherry laurel (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  8. PDSA, poisonous plants (retrieved 21 October 2026)