Grow and Care for Bay Cedar

Grow bay cedar in full sun, in sand that drains, with salt spray just back of the tide. Bay cedar is Suriana. It is not a cooking bay, and it is not a true cedar.

Give it full sun, sand that drains, and salt spray

bay cedar is an evergreen coastal shrub with tiny gray-green fleshy leaves on short upturned twigs, and small yellow flowers through the year. Site it in full sun on sand that drains, where salt spray and wind hit a dune or a rocky shore just back of the high-tide line. [1] A new plant needs water until the roots hold. After that, stop extra irrigation, because this shrub is built for long dry spells in that sand. Salt in the air and the soil is fine. Standing brackish water is the wrong site, so keep it on the dry side of the tide line. [2] It usually stands about 6 to 10 feet, and old plants can reach about 20 feet, so give it room as a hedge or a small specimen, not a windowsill bowl. [3]

Clip it as a hedge, or train it as a small tree

Bay cedar takes clipping, so it works as a coastal hedge. If you want a small tree instead, leave a few trunks and lift the lower twigs as they lengthen.

1. Decide hedge or small tree before you cut, because the first cuts set the shape.
2. For a hedge, clip new growth as the row fills so the screen stays dense.
3. For a small tree, keep a few sturdy trunks and cut the lowest twigs as they lengthen.
4. Do not strip the plant of all its leaves in one pass.

Plant it in well-drained sand, 5 to 6 feet apart for a screen

Set a nursery plant in well-drained sand, at the same depth it grew in the pot. Space a screen 5 to 6 feet apart so the row can close without crowding.

1. Buy a nursery plant with a solid root mass when you can. Native-plant nurseries along the coast are the usual source.
2. Plant any month on frost-free coastal ground. If your winter still freezes, wait until after the last frost.
3. Dig in sand that drains. Skip a low wet pocket and skip a hole that holds water after rain.
4. Set the plant at the same depth it grew in the pot, and backfill with the sand you removed.
5. Space a screen 5 to 6 feet apart. A tighter mass planting can sit about 3 to 5 feet apart.
6. Water until new growth stiffens, then stop extra irrigation.

Take the seed from a dry five-pointed calyx and scarify it

Shops start bay cedar from seed. Collect the small brown five-pointed calyx when it is dry, pick out the seeds, and nick or sand the coat. Soaking the seed, or chilling it in a refrigerator, cuts germination. [4]

1. Collect dry brown calyxes from the plant. Skip green or moldy fruit.
2. Pick the seeds out by hand.
3. Scarify the coat with sandpaper or a light nick. Do not soak the seed, and do not put it in the refrigerator.
4. Sow in a mix that drains, barely covered, and keep that mix moist and warm until sprouts show.
5. Move seedlings to their own pots when they have a few true leaves, then water less so they harden before they go in the ground.

Not a bay laurel — and not a true cedar

Bay laurel is Laurus, the cooking-bay shrub with leathery aromatic leaves — see How to Grow Bay Laurel. True cedar is Cedrus, an inland conifer — see How to Grow Cedar. Eastern red cedar is a juniper, not this dune shrub — see How to Grow Juniper. Buttonwood is Conocarpus, a larger coastal hedge with button-like fruit — see How to Grow Buttonwood. Seagrape is Coccoloba, with round leaves the size of a hand — see How to Grow Seagrape. Suriana is one species.

Keep the sand drained, water only until the roots hold, and clip it if you want a hedge.