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Hi, I was given a small Bay tree. I don't know if you'd call it seedling or sapling... it's about 7" tall with 12 leaves on one central stalk. I'd like it to branch out eventually. Will it do it on its own or do I prune/pinch it back at some point? I don't want to ruin it already. If I should, when and how should I? How big/ number of leaves should it have?
Thanks!
Speaking metaphorically I likely wouldn't concern myself about pruning, training and sculpting for another 18 to 24 months at the earliest when the seedling has advanced from the "fragile little infant stage" (which is where it's at now at 7 inches) to the "taking its first steps and tumbles toddler stage" at around 24 inches tall.
The most important thing for it right now at the delicate baby stage is not upward and outward growth, it's that it needs to establish a strong, well developed and extensive root system and a sturdy leader trunk and it might take it a couple of years for it to get to that stage. The upwards growth rate is dependent on the growing conditions, the temperatures and available light and environment it's in, the type of soil and the nutrient levels in the soil and whether or not it's confined in a pot (for impeded, slower growth) or freely growing in the ground (for unimpeded, faster growth). So you need to go online to research articles specifically about bay laurels and all the proper growing conditions and care that is required for seedling/sapling bay laurels, and how to prune and sculpt them to the specific shape that you want as they mature into adult plants.
Anyway, monitor it and baby it along for a year or two and when it gets to around 24 inches tall it should have already naturally developed a few branches starting, or at the very least branch buds on the trunk. The buds will only look like little bumps just under the surface bark. At 24 inches tall, whether you can see the bud bumps or not, you can nip off the tip at the very top of the trunk then and those buds will start erupting out of the trunk into the beginnings of branches.
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