The bay tree came with the original garden. It’s got two equal, close stems, and was clipped into a tight ball. Clipping like this cuts the large leaves, and the whole plant has to be gone over again with secateurs to remove the cut leaves. Also the growth gets very tight and constrained, with thick knots just inside the cut surface. I would like to maintain the overall size and shape, but loosen the whole plant up.

3 Aug 17

Tinkering through the summer seems to be working quite well, as the plant is growing strongly.