Should i be worried about my Laurel hedge

Kran

Planted a laurel hedge last year. They were 2 year old potted plants when i planted them. They have grown well as far as i can see putting on maybe a foot of height. They are planted on a small bank, about 2 foot high by six foot wide,that i made to increase the height of the hedge quicker. My site is pretty open and high and can be windy so i put a net wind break just behind them. Lately I have noticed that a share of the leaves are turning yellow and dropping off and some are getting brown tips. I applied Rose Clear to them last weekend and yesterday I gave them some Miracle grow soluble fertilizer from a watering can. I have been reading up on this as much as i can but I'm not a very experienced gardener. I pushed my hand in to the soil as deep as I could to see if it was dry or water logged but it seemed to be ok, moist but not overly so in my opinion. Just looking for any advice please as i dread the thought of them dying and having to plant again.

Kran

jimmytwotimes 2013

Yanny

Kran

Samuel T. Cogley

Could be too much water or too little. Mine looked like that last year and bounced back with frequent watering.

Kran

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Could be too much water or too little. Mine looked like that last year and bounced back with frequent watering.

I'm hoping it's from all the wet weather we have got so far this year.

macraignil

Looks to me like there is strong healthy growth in places. An evergreen hedge will drop older leaves over time and take nutrients out of these before dropping them to help with the new growth. This could explain the yellow colour and the strong wind you mention might be the main reason for the burnt tips on the older leaves. Your hedge is still young and it's not unusual for evergreen hedges to be a bit stressed and rough looking after a cold winter. Just looked at the very vigorous laurel hedge at the edge of my own garden and it also has some yellow leaves and some of these have fallen off. Lots of very strong growth elsewhere on it and it's been going strong for the last decade or so although its never got sprayed with roseclear. Don't really believe in applying fungicide or other toxic chemicals to garden plants myself but other than that I would reckon you shouldn't really be worried about your hedge as its likely to improve on its own as it matures and settles into where it's been planted. Making the mound for the hedge could have disrupted the soil to some extent as well so the normal nutrient cycling microbes may require a bit of time to adjust. Just make sure there isn't too much competing growth around the base of the hedge and if you have some material for a mulch it might help as well to add a bit more of this under the hedge.

Kran

macraignil wrote: »

Looks to me like there is strong healthy growth in places. An evergreen hedge will drop older leaves over time and take nutrients out of these before dropping them to help with the new growth. This could explain the yellow colour and the strong wind you mention might be the main reason for the burnt tips on the older leaves. Your hedge is still young and it's not unusual for evergreen hedges to be a bit stressed and rough looking after a cold winter. Just looked at the very vigorous laurel hedge at the edge of my own garden and it also has some yellow leaves and some of these have fallen off. Lots of very strong growth elsewhere on it and it's been going strong for the last decade or so although its never got sprayed with roseclear. Don't really believe in applying fungicide or other toxic chemicals to garden plants myself but other than that I would reckon you shouldn't really be worried about your hedge as its likely to improve on its own as it matures and settles into where it's been planted. Making the mound for the hedge could have disrupted the soil to some extent as well so the normal nutrient cycling microbes may require a bit of time to adjust. Just make sure there isn't too much competing growth around the base of the hedge and if you have some material for a mulch it might help as well to add a bit more of this under the hedge.

Thanks for your reply macraignil. Thats eased my mind a bit anyway. I have the whole top of the mound covered with bark mulch since I planted the hedge and I've pulled any weeds that popped up through it. I presume i shouldn't cut the hedge back any bit since its only been planted a year?, even though they would technically be 3 year old plants now.

macraignil

Kran wrote: »

Thanks for your reply macraignil. Thats eased my mind a bit anyway. I have the whole top of the mound covered with bark mulch since I planted the hedge and I've pulled any weeds that popped up through it. I presume i shouldn't cut the hedge back any bit since its only been planted a year?, even though they would technically be 3 year old plants now.

Just did some quick reading on that pruning question and the sources I found on the internet seem a bit divided. One says leave unpruned for first year while another claims formative pruning over the first couple of years is worthwhile. Personally I would leave it for a while since it is a bit shook looking and maybe in a month or two just trim the very tips of the leading growing tips to encourage the side shoots. When it gets going properly the hedge could be trimmed twice a year but I would think just a light trim with a secateurs or hand sheers would do this year. Any damaged branches or weak scraggly growth could be taken out at the same time to start to give the hedge a good shape.
Good luck!