Is Carolina cherrylaurel good or bad?

Q: This came up in my bed in spring last year. It has rapid growth and is evergreen and presently about 10’ high. Can you tell what it is? Picture was taken on March 22.

A: I am often asked “Is this plant a weed or something to keep?”

I question my client in turn “Does it make you happy or not?“

When people ask for recommendations for a tree that tolerate shades and is evergreen, my best first choice is cherrylaurel. It’s fast growing and evergreen and makes a dense screen.

But when my teenaged garden assistants come every week, I tell them to pull every blessed cherrylaurel seedling in my landscape, because they are a weed.

So sometimes “It all depends.”

In your situation I think the cherrylaurel is a weed and needs to be removed.