Herb · Lauraceae
Bay Laurel
Laurus nobilis
Patient and evergreen, bay laurel rewards a little care with a lifetime of fresh kitchen leaves.
Full sun
Every 5–10 days
USDA 8–11
3–10 ft · 0.9–3 m
Overview
If you have ever pulled a bay leaf from a jar, you have met this plant already. Bay laurel is the evergreen Mediterranean tree those leaves come from, and it wears the same glossy, leathery foliage whether it lives in a border or a pot beside your door. Gardeners have grown it for the kitchen and shaped it into topiary and standards for a very long time, so you are in good company.
The thing to know is that bay takes its time. Its slow growth is the quality that shapes everything, and it works in your favor more than against you, because a plant that grows gently is one you can clip into shape and trust to keep that shape. It does mean a bay lost to cold is not replaced overnight, yet bay is forgiving of pruning and bounces back from a trim, so do not be afraid to cut. It is hardy in milder zones and frost-tender below about 25°F (-4°C), which is simply your cue to grow it in a pot you can shelter.
Best of all, bay asks for very little once it has settled. Offer it sun, soil that drains, and water that never leaves it standing in a swamp, and it will hand you fresh leaves to pick all year. The two things that catch people out are soggy roots and a hard freeze, and both are easy to avoid once you know to watch for them, so a first bay is a very doable plant.
Care
The short version: give it full sun to part shade, soil that drains freely so its roots are never sitting wet, a balanced feed through the growing season, and a little shelter from hard frost, since bay is tender below about 25°F (-4°C).
Light
Bay is happiest in full sun, though it takes partial shade in good spirits, and a bright spot keeps its growth dense and its leaves a rich green. If it lives indoors, simply give it the brightest window you have and it will be content.
Water
Aim to keep the soil evenly moist but never soggy, letting the surface dry a little between drinks. Container plants are the ones to keep half an eye on, since standing water is what rots the roots, so ease right off through winter when growth slows down.
Soil
Plant it in fertile, well-drained loam or a good potting mix and it will settle in nicely. Bay accepts a fair range of soils as long as the ground never turns boggy, and it is comfortable anywhere across a pH of 6.0 to 7.5.
Temperature
Bay grows happily from about 25°F to 86°F (-4°C to 30°C), but that low end is its real limit. It is frost-tender, so a hard freeze browns the leaves and a deeper cold snap can take the plant, which is your reminder to shelter it.
Humidity
Average humidity of around 40% to 60% suits bay well and is easy to provide outdoors. Indoors over winter the thing to watch is dry, still air, which invites scale, so let a little air move around the plant and it will be fine.
Feeding
Reach for a balanced general-purpose fertilizer through spring and summer while the plant is putting on growth. Bays in pots use up their soil faster than you might expect, so a steady monthly feed through the season keeps them happy.
Pruning
Prune in spring to early summer to shape the plant, hold its size, or train it as a topiary or standard, and feel free to be confident with the shears. Bay takes hard pruning and clipping in stride, so this is also the moment to remove anything damaged, frost-burned, or crossing.
Repotting
Shift container plants into fresh mix every 2 to 3 years, or simply refresh the top dressing each year in between. The signs to repot are roots circling the pot or peeking out the drainage holes and water that starts running straight through.
Size & spacing
Bay climbs slowly to 3 to 10 feet (90 cm to 3 m) tall with a spread of 3 to 8 feet (90 to 240 cm), and clipping holds it to whatever size suits you. Give an in-ground plant the room to reach those numbers, or keep it neat and compact in a pot.
When to plant
Because bay holds its leaves through every season, you are not racing a narrow planting window the way you would with a summer vegetable. Set young plants out after the last frost once the soil has warmed up, prune to shape in spring through early summer, and pick leaves the moment a recipe calls for them. In a cold zone, your real calendar is simply moving a potted bay under cover before winter bites and bringing it back out once frost has passed.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: Seed can be started indoors but germination is slow and erratic; cuttings are more common
- Plant: Plant outdoors after the last frost once soil has warmed; in cold zones grow in containers and move indoors or to a sheltered spot before winter frost
- Harvest: Small, inconspicuous yellowish flowers appear in spring on mature plants; aromatic leaves can be harvested anytime, year-round
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 8–11
Temperature: down to -12°C
Troubleshooting
Take heart, because bay is a tough plant and most of its troubles come down to water and cold rather than any tricky disease. Keep a gentle eye on the leaves and the roots, since that is where problems show up first. Find what you are seeing below and act early, and a small wobble rarely turns into anything serious.
Yellowing, drooping growth with soft, sour-smelling roots
What you are looking at is root rot, and it nearly always traces back to soil that stays too wet. Tip the plant out gently and check, since healthy roots are firm and white while rotted ones turn brown, soft, and fall away. Cut right back on water, repot into fresh free-draining mix with the dead roots trimmed off, and never let the pot stand in a saucer of water.
Fix:
- Reduce watering and allow soil to dry appropriately
- Repot into fresh, well-drained mix, trimming away rotted roots
- Ensure pots have drainage holes and never leave plants standing in water
Sticky leaves, a black film, and little bumps on the stems
Those small bumps are scale insects, and the sticky film is the honeydew they leave, which then feeds the black sooty mold you are seeing. Wipe the leaves and stems clean, treat with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap, and snip out any badly coated shoots. A bit more airflow keeps it from returning, since scale tends to settle on plants brought indoors for winter.
Fix:
- Wipe off scale and sooty mold with a damp cloth or soft brush
- Treat with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap, repeating per label
- Prune out heavily infested shoots
- Improve air circulation and reduce overwintering stress
Browned, scorched leaves and dieback after a cold snap
Bay is frost-tender and starts to suffer below about 25°F (-4°C), so a hard freeze or a cold drying wind leaves the foliage brown and the tips dead. Do not give up yet, scratch the stems to find living green underneath, then wait for spring and prune the dead wood back to it. In a cold zone the simplest fix is a pot you can move under cover or indoors before winter arrives.
Fix:
- Wait until spring and prune out clearly dead, brown wood back to live tissue
- Move container plants to a sheltered, frost-free location
- Protect in-ground plants with mulch and wind protection
Toxicity
Bay leaves are lovely in the pot, but they are not for eating and not for leaving where curious animals can reach. The leaves carry essential oils such as eugenol that upset the stomach, and a whole leaf stays stiff and never softens, so it can choke or scratch on the way down. Keep your trimmings away from pets, livestock, and little ones, and always fish the leaf out before you serve.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Mild
A cat that nibbles the leaves will usually end up with vomiting and diarrhea from the essential oils, and a swallowed stiff leaf can choke or scratch the gut on its way down.
Dogs Mild
After a dog eats the foliage, look for an upset stomach with vomiting and loose stool, and the rigid whole leaf brings a real choking and gut-laceration risk on top of that.
Horses Toxic
Those same aromatic oils irritate a horse's digestive tract and bring on stomach upset and drooling, so it is worth keeping clippings well out of reach.
Rabbits Toxic
A rabbit's sensitive gut finds bay's oils far too strong, and they can leave it off its food with diarrhea, so the leaves should stay out of the hutch entirely.
Livestock Caution
Grazing animals usually leave the bitter, oily leaves alone, but one that does eat them can suffer digestive upset, so keep prunings out of any pasture.
Birds Caution
The concentrated oils are risky for a small bird, and the stiff leaf is a choking hazard too, so it is kindest kept well away from pet birds.
People Caution
Bay is a kitchen herb that flavors a dish and is lifted out before serving, and the leaf is never eaten whole, because it stays stiff and can choke or cut, so always take it out of the pot.
Keep leaves and trimmings away from pets and small children. Beyond the mild GI upset from the essential oils, whole bay leaves are stiff and do not soften, so a swallowed whole leaf is also a choking and laceration hazard; bay leaves are removed from food before eating.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Most bay you find is the plain species, and it is wonderful, but a handful of named forms turn up now and then for their foliage or their hardiness. These are the few worth recognizing.
'Aurea'
Its young leaves open in a warm golden yellow that shines brightest when the plant is given plenty of light.
'Angustifolia' (willow-leaf bay)
Slim, willow-like leaves give it away at a glance, and it is known for taking a touch more cold than the plain species.
'Undulata'
You can spot it by the wavy, crinkled margins running along the edge of every single leaf.
How to propagate
Bay is honestly one of the trickier herbs to multiply, so be kind to yourself if it tests your patience more than your skill. Both methods are slow going, which is why most gardeners happily buy a young plant and let someone else do the waiting.
Stem cuttingsDemanding
Late summer to autumn using semi-ripe cuttings · Several months; cuttings root slowly and unreliably, often taking a season or more to establish
Take semi-ripe heel cuttings in late summer to autumn, dip the ends in rooting hormone, and keep them snug, warm, and humid. Settle in for a wait, because bay roots slowly and unevenly, and a cutting often needs a full season or more before it is truly established.
SeedDemanding
Spring, from fresh seed · Slow; germination is erratic and seedlings grow slowly over several years to reach usable size
Sow fresh seed in spring, since it comes up far more willingly than stored seed once it has been soaked and kept warm. Expect a slow, patchy start, and plan on the seedlings spending several years growing gently before they reach a usable size.
Myths
Any plant called laurel is interchangeable, so any laurel leaf works like a bay leaf in cooking.
Only true bay, Laurus nobilis, is the laurel meant for the kitchen. A number of unrelated plants borrow the laurel name and several are genuinely poisonous, among them cherry laurel, which is cyanogenic, mountain laurel, which holds grayanotoxins, and oleander, which is dangerous all through. Always check the botanical name before any leaf goes near food.
Bay leaves do nothing in a dish since you take them out before eating.
You pull the whole leaf out for one simple reason, that it never softens and can choke or scratch going down. All the while the dish was simmering, that leaf was quietly releasing its aromatic oils into the food, and flavoring the pot is the whole point of adding it.