Prunus lusitanica ‘Brenelia’ – Pleached (Portuguese Laurel)

The epitome of formality, gardeners have often pleached these Prunus luistanica ‘Brenelia’ trees. A two-dimensional square of dark green, evergreen, wavy-edged foliage held on a clear trunk, designed to create a living hedge-on-legs that takes up the absolute minimum of space in the garden but could be underplanted if desired. The tree is grown on a frame of bamboo, wood, or sometimes steel and remains like this until the branches thicken and become self-supporting. It will need clipping back once or twice a year to maintain the two dimensional aspect. It screams style and structure.

Art on stilts. Tough, evergreen and dense: these trees produce a generous crop of thick glossy leaves on supple-but-sturdy stems so these specimens, aloft on stout trunks, are a fine choice for creating shelter and privacy on a windy spot. Or a not-windy spot. They're a fine choice anywhere frankly and when grown as smartly as these ones, frightfully posh-looking. ‘Pleached’ means it’s been trained by experts onto slender frames to create these dramatic, elevated screens of spreading stems. All this work has been done for you: so instant architecture and fuss-free maintenance. ‘Brenelia’ is a new cultivar of Prunus lusitanica, bringing with it all the exemplary characteristics you’d expect from this garden stalwart. What’s nice and new is the delicately wavy trim to each shiny leaf, and the lovely dusky pink hue to new stems in spring. This green and pink combo is magic. Think Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Arts and Crafts, Kermit and Miss Piggy. All delightful. If you can resist trimming these until early summer, you’ll get loads of little puffs of fluffy white flowers that pump out quite a heady pong: sweet and rich and filling your garden with scent. Happy in all soils as long as it’s not waterlogged, and is amazingly adaptable taking full sun to shade.