Women's Clothing Boutique Near Me Laurel Bay, NC

Consider growing this herb producer if you love to garden and cook.

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You've probably made several recipes that call for bay leaves (especially if you cook soup regularly), but did you know that you can actually grow your own at home? A bay laurel (Laurus nobilis), the tree that produces these herbs, makes a wonderful addition to most indoor and outdoor garden setups. Here's what you need to know about growing and caring for a bay leaf plant, a culinary garden staple.

Your Complete Guide to Creating and Maintaining a One-Stop Kitchen Garden to Fulfill Your Culinary Needs

How to Plant a Bay Leaf Plant

This is a popular kitchen garden herb, says Tom Monson, the owner of Monson Lawn and Landscaping, who is often asked how to grow bay leaf plants by his clients. "Many people are surprised to learn that growing bay leaves isn't as difficult as they might think," he says.

When planting them outside, select a sunny spot; avoid low-light areas or places where water normally pools after a rainstorm, adds Monson. "Bay leaves need a lot of sunlight and good drainage in order to thrive," he says. "You'll also want to give them plenty of room to spread out, as they tend to be quite large." If you're hoping to add one to your garden, you'll be better off starting with an established plant than trying to start one from seed, says Monson.

How to Care for a Bay Leaf Plant

If you want to keep your bay leaf plant close to the action, like in your kitchen or on a window ledge inside home, you'll need to do your best to replicate the sunny conditions it craves outside, says Stacie Krljanovic, head groundskeeper and adviser at Patio Productions. Plant your bay laurel in a well-draining potting mix and place it in an area where it will get plenty of light. "Provide humidity for your bay leaf by misting the leaves regularly or by placing the pot on a tray of wet pebbles," Krljanovic says.

Just note that this plant can be toxic to pets, so you'll want to make sure your four-legged friends can't get to it wherever you decide to grow it.

When your plant is outside, you'll want to ensure it's in a location that gets bright, indirect light, says Krljanovic; make sure it has ample space to grow, so it doesn't overcrowd nearby plants, adds Monson. The same light conditions need to be replicated indoors.

When growing a bay leaf plant indoors, use a well-draining potting mix. You can get away with choosing an all-purpose variety or one especially formulated for edible plants.

And if you're planting outside? Pay extra attention to how quickly your soil dries out between waterings, says Monson. After a thorough soaking post-planting, give the tree a drink before the top layer of soil dries out.

This hardy plant doesn't actually require regular pruning. You can get away with trimming it back as you see fit to control both its size and its shape, says Krljanovic, who advises against getting to snip-happy when you do start cutting. "Keep in mind that the leaves are the main source of flavor and aroma, so don't prune too much," she says. Pruning should only be done in the late winter or early spring before the new growth begins. "This will help keep the plant looking tidy, while also encouraging more leaf production," says Monson.

While you can harvest the leaves as needed, you should avoid cutting more than a third of the plant's leaves at a time.

You'll want to give your bay leaf plant a boost by hitting it with a balanced, water-soluble fertilizer every four to six weeks, says Krljanovic. This should be enough to ensure your plant's health without stressing or over-feeding it.

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How to Repot a Bay Leaf Plant

If your plant needs a change of scenery, you'll want to make sure you're slowly sizing up the pot (or garden plot) when you move it. According to Monson, carefully move the root ball into a hole that's slightly bigger than the existing root ball. "Place the plant in the hole and gently fill in the soil around it," he continues, adding that you'll need to give it one good soaking after you move it; water it normally moving forward.

Common Problems With Bay Leaf Plants

This plant experiences a few common issues, but fortunately, they're easy to identify and fix (if you catch them early, that is).

Because of their woody stems, bay leaf plants are more likely to fall victim to boring insects (including beetles) that lay their eggs within the wood, killing them in the process. Prune off any affected areas as soon as you spot them.

Bay leaf plants are also a favorite treat for armored and oleander scales. These bugs have been known to latch onto the tree and feed in large groups. Over time, they can cause the leaves to die off, slowly killing back the plant. Introducing natural predators to the plant (like lacewings) can help control them without chemicals.

Unfortunately, wood decay and canker diseases can also cause problems. They're both driven by fungal growth and can quickly destroy the tree from the inside out. Preventing overwatering and pruning off diseased branches as soon as you see them are two good ways to prevent these diseases from taking over.

I try to spendSept. 10 with Carol to celebrate her birthday. This year, at her request, we drove to the Cliffs of the Neuse State Park. Driving I-40, I noticed individual trees dying. A clue to their demise was a recent N.C. Forest Service bulletin that said laurel wilt arrived at Rose Hill.

When we got to the park, we had a surprise reunion with an old friend, Ed Wilkerson, the superintendent. We talked of his record-book black bears while he guided us through a longleaf restoration project.

One exhibit showed tree-damaging insects, including Xyleborus glabratus, the red bay ambrosia beetle. Coming from Asia in wooden packing materials shipped to Savannah in 2002, it is the vector of laurel wilt, which will "drastically reduce" red bay, swamp bay and sassafras. It's an optimistic phrase that pauses just short of "extinction." While these trees may not be of great economic significance, they are important to wildlife and people. People once made sassafras into tea and root beer. Manufacturers still use it for scents and pharmaceuticals. Squirrels and birds eat its buds and drupes, and children marvel at its three different shaped leaves.

I smoked venison over red bay wood, imparting a flavor similar to the taste pronghorn antelope meat acquires from the sage it eats. Carol kept a jar of dried red bay leaves for spicing venison spaghetti. Since transporting firewood or tree parts within the beetle's range spreads laurel wilt, we no longer transport any part of a tree.

One red bay I have a fond association with is a fox squirrel den tree. It is huge and old, standing out in a sea of longleaf pines and small Carolina bays. When squirrel season opens, I hope to find the tree still alive and photograph it before it goes.

Laurel wilt is 90 to 100 percent fatal to red bays more than an inch in diameter. The 1/16-inch long beetle inoculates the tree with Raffaelea lauricola fungus. Insecticides and fungicides don't stop the disease because the beetles are too prolific. Affected trees die quickly from the fungus and beetle tunnels.

Across hundreds of thousands of acres on coastal game lands, including Holly Shelter, Croatan Angola Bay and Green Swamp, the only large broadleaf trees in significant numbers are red bays. When scouting for deer and bear signs, I look for high spots beneath their evergreen leaves where the animals seek cover from sun and rain.

The red bay ambrosia beetle is the twelfth similar species arriving in wooden packing material in the U.S. since 1990. It seems that switching to other materials would be a small price to save the world's forests.

We all but lost the American elm to Dutch elm disease, another fungus/beetle disease. In the Appalachians, evergreens are being destroyed on a massive scale by imported woolly adelgids. Gypsy moths and emerald ash borers are destroying the nation's hardwood trees. The worst of these outcomes may have occurred when an imported fungus destroyed the American chestnut, which comprised 25 percent of Appalachian forests and was once called "the perfect tree." Off our coast, we have lionfish eating every small native fish. In the Mississippi River, silver carp are displacing native fish.

Invasive species may be the biggest economic and ecologic issue facing this nation and the world. Once these genies are out of the bottle, no one can put them back inside. Why, then, is nobody discussing this problem during presidential debates?

-- For more outdoors news or to order one of Mike's books, go to mikemarshoutdoors.com.

I try to spendSept. 10 with Carol to celebrate her birthday. This year, at her request, we drove to the Cliffs of the Neuse State Park. Driving I-40, I noticed individual trees dying. A clue to their demise was a recent N.C. Forest Service bulletin that said laurel wilt arrived at Rose Hill.

When we got to the park, we had a surprise reunion with an old friend, Ed Wilkerson, the superintendent. We talked of his record-book black bears while he guided us through a longleaf restoration project.

One exhibit showed tree-damaging insects, including Xyleborus glabratus, the red bay ambrosia beetle. Coming from Asia in wooden packing materials shipped to Savannah in 2002, it is the vector of laurel wilt, which will "drastically reduce" red bay, swamp bay and sassafras. It's an optimistic phrase that pauses just short of "extinction." While these trees may not be of great economic significance, they are important to wildlife and people. People once made sassafras into tea and root beer. Manufacturers still use it for scents and pharmaceuticals. Squirrels and birds eat its buds and drupes, and children marvel at its three different shaped leaves.

I smoked venison over red bay wood, imparting a flavor similar to the taste pronghorn antelope meat acquires from the sage it eats. Carol kept a jar of dried red bay leaves for spicing venison spaghetti. Since transporting firewood or tree parts within the beetle's range spreads laurel wilt, we no longer transport any part of a tree.

One red bay I have a fond association with is a fox squirrel den tree. It is huge and old, standing out in a sea of longleaf pines and small Carolina bays. When squirrel season opens, I hope to find the tree still alive and photograph it before it goes.

Laurel wilt is 90 to 100 percent fatal to red bays more than an inch in diameter. The 1/16-inch long beetle inoculates the tree with Raffaelea lauricola fungus. Insecticides and fungicides don't stop the disease because the beetles are too prolific. Affected trees die quickly from the fungus and beetle tunnels.

Across hundreds of thousands of acres on coastal game lands, including Holly Shelter, Croatan Angola Bay and Green Swamp, the only large broadleaf trees in significant numbers are red bays. When scouting for deer and bear signs, I look for high spots beneath their evergreen leaves where the animals seek cover from sun and rain.

The red bay ambrosia beetle is the twelfth similar species arriving in wooden packing material in the U.S. since 1990. It seems that switching to other materials would be a small price to save the world's forests.

We all but lost the American elm to Dutch elm disease, another fungus/beetle disease. In the Appalachians, evergreens are being destroyed on a massive scale by imported woolly adelgids. Gypsy moths and emerald ash borers are destroying the nation's hardwood trees. The worst of these outcomes may have occurred when an imported fungus destroyed the American chestnut, which comprised 25 percent of Appalachian forests and was once called "the perfect tree." Off our coast, we have lionfish eating every small native fish. In the Mississippi River, silver carp are displacing native fish.

Invasive species may be the biggest economic and ecologic issue facing this nation and the world. Once these genies are out of the bottle, no one can put them back inside. Why, then, is nobody discussing this problem during presidential debates?

-- For more outdoors news or to order one of Mike's books, go to mikemarshoutdoors.com.

Tampa Bay Trust establishes a powerful, deeply personal financial network between the Plateau and Florida and the rest of the country.

Hood Craddock

The overriding focus of Hood Craddock’s profession is helping families. He’s a Cashiers neighbor, having lived for many years in Big Sheep Cliff as a seasonal resident, where his wife and children have enjoyed many springs, summers, and autumns in this beautiful area and now the kids are grown and on their own.

When Craddock is not enjoying his home in Cashiers, he is at the Tampa Bay Trust Company in Tampa, Florida, where he serves as Director of Family Office Services assisting individuals and business owners with complex financial situations, often involving multiple generations of family members. He’s a firm believer that doing business in person on the local level is most effective and leads to a successful long-term wealth management plan for his clients.

Why is this relevant to the Cashiers-Highlands area? The Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida markets have a closely-tied relationship with the Plateau.

“Thousands of residents in and around our corporate footprint have seasonal homes they enjoy in North Carolina, specifically in the Highlands-Cashiers region,” said Craddock, “so it made sense to establish an office here to accommodate them.”

Early last year, The Trust Company opened their new office in Cashiers and just recently relocated to a larger space.

“My colleagues and I enjoy the home feel of the new space, since it aligns with our culture and preference of building personal relationships with our visitors, unlike the ‘big box’ banking experience that has become so prevalent with some national firms,” said Craddock.

The local office serves as a space to talk with visitors and better understand their financial and estate planning needs. However, The Trust Company is not limited to serving Florida residents, and works with clients from around the U.S.

He stresses that “We view our investments through a family office lens – evaluating all assets, not just liquid resources. We also understand that wealth is a long-term currency for both current and future generations.”

The firm’s emphasis is on getting to know the family very well, working on its behalf and thinking broadly on a multigenerational level; the transition of wealth from one generation to the next.

Craddock is a Certified Public Accountant and his expertise spans family education and governance, wealth transfer, business succession and philanthropic giving – a result of some 40 years of experience serving clients with special assets.

He got his start at KPMG in Tampa – the prominent “Big Four” accounting firm, working there for 13 years as a tax partner.

From there, he went on to a family real estate and agriculture business in Polk County, Florida, serving as Chief Financial Officer and President.

After 20 years, he founded his own multi-family office-consulting firm “providing coordination and integration of all financial resources for high-net-worth families.”

In 2015 he merged his firm with the Tampa Bay Trust Company to accommodate his clients’ expanding needs for high level investment management and trust services.

The Cashiers office is open seasonally and by appointment at 268 Hwy 107 South in Cashiers and Hood Craddock can be reached at (863) 528-1194 or hcraddock@tampabaytrustcompany.com

The Sanibel Captiva Trust Company’s Fiduciary Services may only be provided from their offices in Florida. The Tampa Bay Trust Company and The Naples Trust Company are divisions of The Sanibel Captiva Trust Company of Sanibel, Florida.

by Marlene Osteen

Tampa Bay Trust establishes a powerful, deeply personal financial network between the Plateau and Florida and the rest of the country.

The overriding focus of Hood Craddock’s profession is helping families. He’s a Cashiers neighbor, having lived for many years in Big Sheep Cliff as a seasonal resident, where his wife and children have enjoyed many springs, summers, and autumns in this beautiful area and now the kids are grown and on their own.

When Craddock is not enjoying his home in Cashiers, he is at the Tampa Bay Trust Company in Tampa, Florida, where he serves as Director of Family Office Services assisting individuals and business owners with complex financial situations, often involving multiple generations of family members. He’s a firm believer that doing business in person on the local level is most effective and leads to a successful long-term wealth management plan for his clients.

Why is this relevant to the Cashiers-Highlands area? The Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida markets have a closely-tied relationship with the Plateau.

“Thousands of residents in and around our corporate footprint have seasonal homes they enjoy in North Carolina, specifically in the Highlands-Cashiers region,” said Craddock, “so it made sense to establish an office here to accommodate them.”

Early last year, The Trust Company opened their new office in Cashiers and just recently relocated to a larger space.

“My colleagues and I enjoy the home feel of the new space, since it aligns with our culture and preference of building personal relationships with our visitors, unlike the ‘big box’ banking experience that has become so prevalent with some national firms,” said Craddock.

The local office serves as a space to talk with visitors and better understand their financial and estate planning needs. However, The Trust Company is not limited to serving Florida residents, and works with clients from around the U.S.

He stresses that “We view our investments through a family office lens – evaluating all assets, not just liquid resources. We also understand that wealth is a long-term currency for both current and future generations.”

The firm’s emphasis is on getting to know the family very well, working on its behalf and thinking broadly on a multigenerational level; the transition of wealth from one generation to the next.

Craddock is a Certified Public Accountant and his expertise spans family education and governance, wealth transfer, business succession and philanthropic giving – a result of some 40 years of experience serving clients with special assets.

He got his start at KPMG in Tampa – the prominent “Big Four” accounting firm, working there for 13 years as a tax partner.

From there, he went on to a family real estate and agriculture business in Polk County, Florida, serving as Chief Financial Officer and President.

After 20 years, he founded his own multi-family office-consulting firm “providing coordination and integration of all financial resources for high-net-worth families.”

In 2015 he merged his firm with the Tampa Bay Trust Company to accommodate his clients’ expanding needs for high level investment management and trust services.

The Cashiers office is open seasonally and by appointment at 268 Hwy 107 South in Cashiers and Hood Craddock can be reached at (863) 528-1194 or hcraddock@tampabaytrustcompany.com

The Sanibel Captiva Trust Company’s Fiduciary Services may only be provided from their offices in Florida. The Tampa Bay Trust Company and The Naples Trust Company are divisions of The Sanibel Captiva Trust Company of Sanibel, Florida.

by Marlene Osteen