Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Tips On How To Grow And Care For Bay Leaf Tree

By Brooks Bland


Using bay leaves in cooking brings out a unique flavor to the recipe because of the leaves' distinctive flavor and fragrance. If you use bay leaves, surely, you will have a great-tasting dish. In fact, it is used in many Mediterranean and North American cuisines. Commonly, you will find bay leaves in recipes involving soups, stews, and many meat, seafood and vegetable dishes. Aside from being used in cooking, bay leaves also have medicinal values, having been used as an ingredient in liniments for bruising and sprains.

Bay leaves have been used as a herbal remedy as well for headaches and stomach ulcers. Others who have muscular and body pains use the leaves to create a soothing bath.

Because of the many uses of bay leaves, growing some in your backyard is going to be a great idea. Bay Leaf Tree grows into large trees but when kept can also thrive as a small bush. Bay Leaf Tree can both grow as a large tree or a small bush.

You can grow the tree through layering, sowing seeds, or taking cutting. The best time to sow the seeds is during spring. Meanwhile, cuttings should be done in late summer to early autumn. Layering should be done in spring.

Growing a bay leaf from seeds, although can be quite a task, is the most preferred methods for many. To control the height of the tree and to reduce the pruning required, seeds are placed in pots. Seeds placed in pots that measure 12 inches in diameter can grow up to five feet. This way, you can keep the plant in your patio. You are also assured that you will not need to re-pot the tree for five years.

When it comes to caring for your tree, keep it inside your house when the frost season begins. Make sure though that you will still place the pot were it can receive plenty of light. You may notice that the bay leaves on the tree turn to brown and wither away during winter. When spring comes, you will surely have plenty of green leaves to prune. Do not water the plant in winter. When summer comes, feed the bay leaf tree with fertilizer every fortnight. In addition, so that it will not be very bushy, prune or cut the leaves of the tree according to your desired shape when it is in bloom.




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