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Which Do You Prefer? Rhododendrons or a Laurel Hedge?

By Mavis Butterfield on January 11, 2016 · 16 Comments
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rhododendron

When we first bought our house, the property was COVERED with rhododendrons.  I know some people LOVE rhododendrons, but if there is one plant on this earth I cannot stand, it’s rhododendrons. The previous owners had oodles of them planted in the front of the house, and along both side yards as well.

chopping-rhododendrons-

Shortly after we moved in, I broke out the loppers and slowly started to remove the beastly bushes one at a time during the early morning hours hoping no one would notice.

rhododendron

I was making some pretty good progress too, but eventually the HOA supervising committee caught on {or someone turned me in} and I got busted for removing plants ON MY OWN PROPERTY without written approval from the HOA.

hoa-letter

Our neighborhood landscaping committee LOVES rhododendrons. In fact, it’s very rare to walk by a home in our development and not see a single one planted in someone’s yard. It’s weird, almost cult like and it creeps me out.

laurel-hedge-

Eventually I did submit a plan to install a laurel hedge that would border our driveway and was approved for it by the HOA.

laurel bush

Much to my surprise, the laurel hedge has taken off and is growing like mad.
pruning hedges

With a little luck {and a lot of natural fertilizer} we should have a nice fat hedge by the time we sell the place. In my opinion, a clean simple laurel hedge is way better than an island of rhododendron plants any day of the week.

How about you?

Are you a rhododendron lover? Or more of a neat and tidy formal hedge type of person?

~Mavis

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Comments

  1. Ginger says

    January 11, 2016 at 10:11 am

    I”m with you on the rhodies. They are only pretty for about 5 minutes after they bloom and then they are a hot mess all over the place. I hate deadheading those sticky blooms. We are in a rental and have a HUGE HOT PINK one right smack dab in the front of our house and when it blooms there are swarms of bees that you have to dive through in order to get in the front door. Laurel is a much more sensible landscape option.

    Reply
  2. Tracy says

    January 11, 2016 at 10:49 am

    I’m not a Rhodie fan and hate azaleas even more. It does occur to me that having to get everything approved is sort of what one buys into when they purchase property ‘governed’ by HOAs. No point in getting indignant about it…you went in with your eyes open. I just wish you speed in selling this house and finding one you’re really into. I wouldn’t last 10 minutes in an HOA “community”!

    Reply
  3. HunnyWest says

    January 11, 2016 at 11:01 am

    I moved to the Northwest from the Southwest where we had few rhodies. I love the explosion of blooms every Spring from the rhodies. We have several in our landscape with colors of magenta, lavender, red purple and yellow, but I do keep them pruned so they don’t look like mountains. They are ideal bushes for towhees and other ground feeding birds to hid in. A lovely little laurel hedge is nice and tidy, but the blooms leave much to be desired compared to rhodies.

    Reply
    • Laura Z says

      January 12, 2016 at 9:37 am

      I love them too, but I live in an area where we have rhododenrons and wild laurels growing wild in the nearby mountains. I love azaleas, too — there are about 15 of them in my yard. I just love that eruption of brilliant color in the springs just makes my heart sing. We do have lots of birds, butterflies, and bees because of them.

      Reply
  4. Michele Crawford says

    January 11, 2016 at 11:10 am

    Oh Mavis! we had a friend with a powerful truck come and pop all the rhodies (except one) from our yard when we moved in. They were glowering everywhere. And just to comfort you, OUR previous HOA dinged us for leaving our Christmas wreath on our door too long…it could be worse!

    Reply
  5. Lace Faerie says

    January 11, 2016 at 11:31 am

    I like rhodies, I like it when they are in bloom and the fact that very little can take root under them. Yay! Less weeding! They are a bit of work to clean up the flower bracts after blooming but it gives me the opportunity to break off the new growth candles when I don’t want anymore growth.

    That said, I don’t believe they belong under or in front of the windows, I hate, hate, hate it when they block the light coming in.

    But then again, I saw a small house that was entirely under the umbrella of a ginormous rhody. It was beautiful but I would have hated having it blocking the entire front of the house till it gained its size.

    I don’t mind laurels as long as I don’t have to walk too close to them, I hate the smell.

    Reply
  6. Pam says

    January 11, 2016 at 11:50 am

    Rhododendrun plants are pretty when they flower, but I do not care for the look of the plant itself. Gets to big and overgrown looking to me. But I personally don’t care for shrubs much either, unless they have flowers, not into a bunch of green rows in my landscape.

    Reply
  7. Teckla says

    January 11, 2016 at 12:03 pm

    Rhodies for a hedge, NO! On the other hand, a rhody for accent or a showcase, IF it has been allowed to grow and has been meticulously pruned into a low-height tree can be a thing of beauty, albeit a thing of work! The Capitol grounds in Salem, OR has many fine examples. if you are ever down there. It’s worth a walk around, also include the Willamette College rose garden just across State Street. Beautiful! For a hedge, laurel is lovely.

    I’m not a fan of “little boxes, or ticky tacky. Remember that song?

    Little boxes on the hillside,
    Little boxes made of ticky tacky,
    Little boxes on the hillside,
    Little boxes all the same.
    There’s a green one and a pink one
    And a blue one and a yellow one,
    And they’re all made out of ticky tacky
    And they all look just the same.

    Always, always, be yourself! That’s what I like about you . . . you are true to yourself.

    Reply
  8. Christy says

    January 11, 2016 at 12:20 pm

    I like rhodies better.. I mean at least they have nicer flowers and some have fabulous colors (others not so much). Laurels are a bit to invasive and grow WAY too fast so require constant pruning and watching for runners. Plus some rhodies are native to the area so that is a nice plus. Don’t know about the laurel.

    Reply
  9. Amy says

    January 11, 2016 at 2:04 pm

    Laural hedge all the way… I simply loathe rhodies. They do look nice for a limited amount of time, but definitely not in the front of a house.

    Reply
  10. Kristen says

    January 11, 2016 at 2:37 pm

    I prefer a more natural look than hedges, but my bigger preference is to not be part of a cult. CC&R committees have a tendency to go crazy.

    Reply
  11. Ursula says

    January 13, 2016 at 10:41 am

    Having spent the last three years in my house slowly removing one laurel at a time (THERE WERE 10) and replacing them with plants that offer actual use or beauty… I might be Team Rhodey on this one.

    Reply
  12. Lynda says

    January 16, 2016 at 10:23 am

    In my area, the rhododendron look half dead most of the year, and really dead during winter. They can be breathtaking when they bloom but for ease of care and year-round appeal, yes, laurel.

    Reply
  13. Jeanie says

    January 16, 2016 at 11:10 am

    Oh I do love the Rhodies. We don’t have them here in the Midwest. I miss them from when we lived in Kent and had quite a new naturalized into the hillside. I am not a huge fan of a hedge…I prefer a messier look. My favorite things in my yard are my barberries (Although they are murder to prune), my crepe myrtles and my spirea. I love that messy bush look plus the birds adore them in winter. I currently have two lemon trees and a Rosemary taking up a lot of real estate in the house since my greenhouse heater went out.

    Reply
  14. Rubie says

    January 16, 2016 at 4:32 pm

    Last I knew, both Rhododendrons and Laurel are BOTH poisonous to dogs (as well as other animals) – Laurel is called “sheep kill”, if that gives you a clue! Granted, to be poisoned, a critter (or kid?) has to ingest some leaves, but it is a serious poison. I know this from painful experience — I raise Maremma livestock dogs and had two die within 24 hours after going to their new home in Portland area — started vomiting, convulsing, diarrhea, lethargic. New owners took them to vet immediately (as in, next morning when they opened), thinking they had Parvo — turned out they had eaten Rhodie leaves from a hedge separating livestock area from house yard, and that is what killed them both. I felt so bad, I gave the people two more pups – AFTER they removed the Rhodies. I just looked this up on Google and confirmed what my impression was. Probably not so much a problem with older dogs, but puppies will be puppies, and think they have to put EVERYTHING in their mouths. Sad lesson for everyone!

    Reply
  15. Jillian says

    January 16, 2016 at 5:12 pm

    I don’t love either, I do have roadies, they were here when we got the house. But the provide great cover for my chickens. Laurel grows way to fast and I have to trim the giant one between my house and neighbors property or 3 times a year.

    Reply

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