Scotch laburnum - planting, care, pruning

Scotch laburnum forms cascades of yellow flowers

Scotch laburnum is a small tree or shrub that is incredibly flower-bearing, hardy and easy to care for.

Basic Scotch Laburnum facts

Name – Laburnum
Family – Fabaceae
Type – tree

Height – 24 feet (7 meters)
Exposure – full sun
Soil – ordinary

Foliage – deciduous
Flowering – April to July

Ideal for hedges, garden boxes and as standalones, it will honorably decorate any garden thanks to its great ornamental value.

Note: different plant from Scotch broom

Planting scotch laburnum

Planting your scotch laburnum is an important step for the life of your shrub because it determines your laburnum’s proper growth and flowering.

How to plant a scotch laburnum

A scotch laburnum is indifferently planted either in spring or fall but, like all shrubs, fall should always be considered best for optimal root development before winter and better growth in spring.

If you’re planting in spring, you’ll need to remember to water often over the first year.

Full sun exposure helps ensure better blooming.
Scotch laburnum also tolerates part sun.
Follow our advice on planting trees.

Planting scotch laburnum in pots or containers

Because it grows slowly in constricted spaces, scotch laburnum is actually well suited to growing in pots or garden boxes.

Provide a good-sized pot.
Ensure that the bottom of the pot or container has a hole in it so excess water can drain away.
Place a bed of rocks or clay beads at the bottom to facilitate drainage.

Sowing scotch laburnum

Sowing scotch laburnum is quite easy and can be performed with seeds collected in fall.

Sowing usually takes place in spring.
Soak the seeds in water for 24 hours.
Sow in good quality seedling soil mix.
Maintain moisture in the soil.
Transplant to the ground in fall.

Pruning and caring for scotch laburnum

Pruning is not a necessity at all, but, if you with to reduce or even out the shrub’s bearing,

Wait for the end of the blooming to prune.
Only cut from green wood, never from old, dry wood.

Caring for scotch laburnum is very easy and is basically summed up as removing dead wood regularly.

For scotch laburnum grown in pots, remember to water often, usually as soon as the surface soil is dry.

Adding flower shrub fertilizer in spring spurs blooming and proper scotch laburnum growth.

All there is to know about scotch laburnum

Scotch laburnum is a little tree that unfurls remarkable blooming thanks to its wonderful bunches of flowers.

The gold yellow flowers are shaped in beautiful drooping panicles and are fragrant in a way that is reminiscent of yellow wisteria.

Growth is rapid in proper soil which makes it the ideal hedge shrub if you want to block bystanders from checking your property out.

Its possible to also set it as a standalone, and mixed hedges or alignments look nice, too.

Growing scotch laburnum in pots or garden boxes is perfectly possible and even recommended, the only caveat is to provide a pot that is large enough.