Mountain Laurel

Mountain Laurel Care

Kalmia Latifolia

What is the plant

Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) is flowering broadleaf evergreen shrub with a multi-stemmed growth habit. It has beautiful spring blooms, and its elliptical, glossy deep-green leaves (resembling those of rhododendrons) and gnarled stems make it attractive in all seasons. This shade-loving shrub produces clusters of rose, pink, or white flowers with purple markings in late May to early June. If the flowers are not deadheaded, nondescript brown fruits will appear. Many different cultivars are available that offer various sizes and bloom colors. Mountain laurel usually grows as a dense, rounded shrub, with branches that grow gnarlier as the shrub ages. While mountain laurel is particular about its soil needs, this plant is easy to grow in the right environment. It is a good flowering shrub for mass plantings in shady shrub borders, woodland gardens, or for foundation plantings. It partners well with rhododendrons and azaleas.

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Humidity

Normal

Lighting

Part Sun

Hardiness zone

4 - 9

Difficulty

Medium

Hibernation

Cold Period

Toxicity

Poisonous

How to Care for the Plant

Water
Ideally, soils should be kept moist, but once established this shrub has fairly good resistance to drought, provided the soil does not overheat. To avoid allowing the roots to get soggy, planting mountain laurel in raised berms or planters can be a good idea.
Pruning
Mountain laurel is a slow-growing shrub that requires little pruning. Dead or broken branches can be removed anytime. Shaping pruning should be done in the spring, just after blooming is completed. Spent flower clusters should be deadheaded after the blooms fade.Should your mountain laurel plants get too tall or gangly for your landscape design, cut them back almost to ground level to rejuvenate them. These tough shrubs can take a severe pruning when necessary. From stubs just a few inches above the ground, new foliage will arise, and your plants will mature into large shrubs once again in about ten years’ time.
Fertilizer
This shrub should be fed in spring with an acid fertilizer, such as that formulated for azaleas and rhododendrons. Feeding will encourage more vigorous blooming.

Disease diagnosis

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Sunlight
Mountain laurel is highly prized because it performs well in part shade, but deep shade may reduce its flowering and cause leaf spots. In full sun, the deep-green leaves may turn yellowish.
Soil
These shrubs like moist but well-drained, acidic soil. Its natural habitat is woodsy areas near swampy zones, but not in soggy soil. It dislikes heavy clay soils.
Temperature
Mountain laurel likes soil that is relatively cool, and it will do fine in the warm months provided the soil remains shaded. It normally does not like the high temperatures and dense humidity of southern coastal climates, but some cultivars are somewhat more tolerant of these conditions.

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Additional
All parts of Mountain Laurel are toxic. Honey made from Mountain Laurels will also be toxic – so avoid this plant if you are a beekeeper!
Popularity
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