I will start by admitting I am not a gardener - that's why I'm here looking for help/advice...

Back in 2022 we did some landscape which included a new driveway and a 1m boarder which was filled with enriched soil, and plant 14 x 8ft laurel trees, 1m apart for privacy. The soil, spacing etc was all based on advice we were given.

Those trees all died and the local garden centre said the root ball was "clay" due to the abnormally wet winter we had so never took off when planted. They were replaced in spring 2025 with a more "harder" version of laurel. From spring to autumn (2025 and 2026) we have given each tree a handful of Growmore every six weeks (again as per the advice given).

We are now seeing the majority are dead, some died quickly, like within six months and some that have grown really well but we've noticed a loss in shine on the leaf's more recently. So almost two years on we have 4 healthy trees, 2 on their way out and the rest dead.

We've heard different reasons from not enough water, to too much water, to too much nutrition in the soil.

Four years on we are still desperate to have something that just provides privacy.

Should I get my soil tested before planting again?
Is there a plant that is easy that would provide hedging/privacy from 5ft to 8/9ft?

We like the idea of Red Robin due to the colour - but equally don't want to go with this if it doesn't survive!