Plant Type: Tree
Foliage Character: Evergreen
Habit: Upright, Multi-trunk, Mounding, Low-branching, Dense
Growth Rate: Slow
Foliage Color: Dark green
Flower Color: Insignificant, Cream
Flower Season: Spring
Soil Adaptations: Well-draining soil, Loam, Clay, Calcareous soil
Exposure Adaptations: Drought, Aridity, All day sun, Partial sun, Wind, Morning sun, Heat
Function: Screening, Residential spaces, Raised planters, Foundations, Foliage accent plant, Espalier, Commercial spaces, Background plant, Fragrant foliage, Shade Tree, Hedge
Height: 15 ft. – 25 ft.
Width: 15 ft. – 20 ft.
The Sweet bay grows well across the Inland Empire with normal winter rainfall and periodic deep summer water. The chart below provides a baseline irrigation schedule for this species. It should be noted there are several winter months marked by an asterisk (*) when rains can provide sufficient moisture and irrigation is not needed. The high and low range of moisture indicates it can grow with varying amounts of water; higher amounts of water within this range will result in stronger summer foliage character.
|
Jan* |
Feb* |
Mar* |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov* |
Dec* |
Runs per Month |
0x to 2x |
0x to 2x |
0x to 2x |
1x to 2x |
1x to 2x |
1x to 2x |
1x to 2x |
1x to 2x |
1x to 2x |
1x to 2x |
0x to 2x |
0x to 2x |
Inches per Run |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
|
Inches per Month |
0″ to 2″ |
0″ to 2″ |
0″ to 2″ |
1″ to 2″ |
1″ to 2″ |
1″ to 2″ |
1″ to 2″ |
1″ to 2″ |
1″ to 2″ |
1″ to 2″ |
0″ to 2″ |
0″ to 2″ |
Range of supplemental summer water: 7"-14"
Range of supplemental winter water: 0"-10"
|
0″-2″ |
0″-2″ |
0″-2″ |
1″-2″ |
1″-2″ |
1″-2″ |
1″-2″ |
1″-2″ |
1″-2″ |
1″-2″ |
0″-2″ |
0″-2″ |
|
Jan* |
Feb* |
Mar* |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov* |
Dec* |
For more information on how to use this Irrigation Schedule and Graph, follow this link.
For information how to calculate your irrigation system’s schedule and precipitation rate, please follow this link.
Plan for minor early structural pruning as necessary. Can be grown as a large shrub, multi trunk tree, or singly trunk tree, or can be kept smaller with regular pruning. It can also be grown as a clipped hedge. Winter is an ideal time to prune Sweet Bay, but hedges and bushes being kept small will likely require pruning in other seasons as well. Depending on growing and site conditions, Sweet Bay can be prone to scale insect infestation, which is “ranched” by ants who eat the sugary honeydew they excrete. This is best taken care of by blasting off scale with a high pressure nozzle on a hose, or directly rubbing them off branches. Long term ant control may also be necessary to help prevent re-infestation. A small amount of scale is not a threat to healthy established trees, but a heavy infestation can cause problems. When they occur, problems tend to we worst on tender new growth. If there are just a few young shoots with heavy infestation, it may be easiest and most effective to simply prune those off (D,S).
References