Garden Planner & Almanac The Cottage Garden Companion
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Laburnum

Laburnum x watereri

The pruning window is narrow — cut the moment the flowers fade, and leave it be the rest of the year.

Light Full sun or partial shade will both do.
Water Moderate water; established trees ride out dry weather.
Height 6 m
Spread 13 ft 1 in
Spacing 400 cm

Spacing & sowing

Plant spacing
13 ft 1 in
In-row spacing
13 ft 1 in
Between rows
16 ft 5 in
Square-foot density
Not suited to SFG

Growing

Type
Tree · Perennial
Botanical family
Mixed / other
Sunlight
Full sun or partial shade will both do.
Watering
Moderate water; established trees ride out dry weather.
Feeding
All-purpose balanced
Frost tolerant
Yes
Flowering
May
Pruning
Cut as soon as flowering finishes in early summer.

Through the year

  • Apr–May Bud Break
  • May–Oct Flowering
  • Oct–Nov Leaf Fall
  • Nov–Dec Winter Dormancy
  • Jan–Apr Winter Dormancy

Companions

Alliums, Geraniums, Aquilegia, Foxgloves

Pests & problems

Garden allies

Beneficial predators that hunt this plant's pests — grow their favourite flowers nearby to recruit them. companion plant

  • Green lacewing Chrysoperla carnea
    Hunts Mealybugs

    Its bristly larvae — "aphid lions" — impale aphids, mealybugs, thrips, and mite colonies, eating hundreds a week. Adults feed on nectar and pollen from small open flowers and overwinter in hollow stems left standing.

    Plant nearby CilantroCosmosDillSunflowerYarrow
  • Hoverfly Syrphidae
    Hunts Mealybugs

    Bee-mimicking flies whose legless larvae graze aphid colonies clean while the adults pollinate. A ribbon of shallow, nectar-rich flowers kept in bloom all season recruits wave after wave of them.

    Plant nearby CalendulaChamomileFennelFrench marigoldPhaceliaSweet alyssum
  • Ladybird (lady beetle) Coccinellidae
    Hunts Mealybugs

    The gardener’s favorite ally: adults and their alligator-shaped larvae each eat thousands of aphids, plus scale, mealybugs, and other soft-bodied sap-suckers. Grow flat, open flowers for the adults and never spray a colony that ladybird larvae are already working.

    Plant nearby CalendulaCilantroCosmosDillFennelYarrow
  • Parasitic wasps Braconidae & Trichogramma
    Hunts Leaf miners

    Tiny, stingless wasps that lay eggs in or on caterpillars, aphids, and moth eggs — the white cocoons riding a hornworm are their calling card, so leave that caterpillar be. Umbel flowers with shallow nectar keep the adults fuelled.

    Plant nearby CilantroDillFennelLovageParsleySweet alyssumYarrow

The Cottage Garden Companion — the gardener's herbarium at cottagegardencompanion.com