How to Grow Mountain Laurel Shrubs

Mountain Laurel
Photo Credit
Bob Pool
Botanical Name
Kalmia latifolia
Plant Type
Sun Exposure
Soil pH
Bloom Time
Flower Color
Hardiness Zone

Also receive the Almanac Daily newsletter including gardening tips, weather, astronomical events, and more.

No content available.
Subhead

Learn How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Mountain Laurel Shrubs

Print Friendly and PDF

Looking for a native flowering shrub that’s shade-tolerant and available with flowers in multiple colors? Plus, it’s deer-resistant! Learn how to plant, grow, and care for mountain laurels.

About Mountain Laurel

Mountain laurel is native to North America and is found naturally from New England down to the Florida panhandle and west to Indiana. It’s the state flower of Pennsylvania and Connecticut. The botanical name for mountain laurel is Kalmia latifolia, also called ivy bush, spoonwood, and American laurel.

It’s a relatively slow-growing flowering shrub, evergreen, and hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9, although some cultivars are rated for zone 4. This shade-loving shrub will also tolerate partial sun and is perfect for massed plantings along wood edges, for creating shrubbery borders, and as part of a living privacy hedge. Breeders have developed smaller versions, but many mountain laurels reach 10 to 15 feet tall and wide. They have a multi-stemmed habit, and their glossy green foliage resembles a rhododendron.

Mountain laurels bloom in late spring to early summer, covering themselves with flowers resembling hexagonal cups, which can be white, pink, red, or two-toned, depending on the variety. 

mountain laurel bushes
Mountain laurel alongside the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville, North Carolina. Credit: Cvandyke

Planting

When to Plant Mountain Laurels

Plant mountain laurels in late spring once the danger of frosts has passed. If planting in autumn, try to plant the shrub at least 4-6 weeks before the first frost to allow sufficient time for new roots to establish.

Where to Plant Mountain Laurels

Choose a spot with partial shade or dappled light and moist soil. Morning sun and afternoon shade are perfect. Mountain laurels will survive in full shade, but growth will be slow and blooming poor. They tolerate many soil types but don’t do well in heavy clay and prefer an acidic pH of 5-5.5.

How to Plant Mountain Laurels

Mountain laurels are often purchased in one to three-gallon containers, even online. They’re easy to plant and easy to care for.

  • Remove all sod from an area twice as large as the hole you will dig.
  • Make a bowl-shaped hole as deep as the root ball and twice as wide, and loosen the sides and bottom of the hole. Compacted soil on the bottom makes it difficult for roots to penetrate and for water to drain.
  • Remove the mountain laurel from its container and prune any circling or girdling roots. If the shrub is rootbound, score the root ball to stimulate new growth in outward directions.
  • Test fit the mountain laurel in the hole, checking for depth and ensuring no roots are bent over or circling the hole. The top of the root ball should be at ground level. Enlarge the hole if necessary. 
  • Begin backfilling the hole with native soil you removed, ensuring the shrub is vertical while filling–it’s easy to plant them crooked. Step back and check.
  • When the hole is halfway refilled, tamp the soil firmly around the roots to remove air pockets, then give it a good drink of water (but don’t flood the hole). Keep filling the soil around the roots and firming it with your hands, watering again when complete.
  • Spread mulch around the shrub, about 3-4 inches thick. Spread it evenly in a circle extending two feet from the base. Don’t allow the mulch to touch the trunk–keep a few inches of separation. The final mulch job should look like a saucer, not a pyramid.

Growing

Like any new shrub or ornamental tree, newly planted mountain laurels will need watering weekly for the first summer if sufficient rain hasn’t fallen. Mountain laurels don’t need to be fertilized, they’re quite happy to scratch out a living in whatever soil they’re planted in.

Deadheading mountain laurels can be beneficial for smaller varieties when you can reach the flowers. Light pruning will force a more bushy, compact form. Mountain laurels grow in a more open, airy, and leggy shape without pruning. Perform any pruning shortly after they bloom, as mountain laurels bloom on last year’s growth (old wood).

mountain laurel bush in light pink
Kalmia latifolia ‘Hoffman’s Pink’, pink mountain laurel in flower. Credit: Alex Manders
Gardening Products

Wit and Wisdom

  • Deer don’t bother mountain laurels often, browsing only for a taste or when nothing else is available. If you have deer problems, these browse-resistant shrubs can be planted closer together to form a living hedge that a lazy deer won’t bother crossing.
  • All parts of this plant are toxic to people and some livestock. Keep it away from play areas or pastures.
  • Mountain laurel foliage is highly flammable and can produce flame lengths of 100 feet when the shrubbery burns. Keep it away from houses and buildings in fire-prone areas.
  • Mountain laurel is the state flower for Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

Pests/Diseases

About The Author

Andy Wilcox

Andy Wilcox is a flower farmer and master gardener with a passion for soil health, small producers, forestry, and horticulture. Read More from Andy Wilcox