What's going on with my Laurel?

Idioteque

I planted a number of Laurel about 6 weeks ago. I got them from Carragh Nurseries and they were in 10Ltr pots. I'd say about 15-20% of the leaves had bits missing from them and holes in them and some had a white powdery substance on them.

They were planted into a narrow bed around a driveway but the soil is apparently good so I thought I'd take a chance.

Since I've planted them I'd say around 25% of leaves have bits missing or brown marks on them. In the past 2 weeks a load of new shoots have started to appear but the majority of them have brown on the tips/edges.

I've done a little reading up and some articles say it's nothing to worry about and Laurel is hardy and will outgrow the problem whereas others say lots of possible problems with differing solutions.


Any help appreciated - you can see pics here

Lumen

That bed looks very narrow.

What ultimate height and depth are you looking for?

secman

And i thought Laurel was Hardy.......



couldn't resist..... gets coat and Leaves room

Samuel T. Cogley

Mine go a bit brown due to lack of water. There is a fungal thing that does something similar though.

wildwillow

It also has been frosty at night so new leaves will be burnt.. Hope you spread the roots and you need to water really well every few days rather than a little every day.

Idioteque

Lumen wrote: »

That bed looks very narrow.

What ultimate height and depth are you looking for?

Yeah nothing I can do about width of bed unfortunately. Looking to go about 1.6meters high and they're about half that at the moment. Not looking for much depth, I'd say less than half a meter

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Mine go a bit brown due to lack of water. There is a fungal thing that does something similar though.

The chap in Carragh told me I only needed to water 1 per week in the summer so that's what I've been doing - maybe that's not enough. I was afraid of over-watering if that wasn't the problem.

wildwillow wrote: »

It also has been frosty at night so new leaves will be burnt.. Hope you spread the roots and you need to water really well every few days rather than a little every day.

I did spread the roots but as above maybe they are not getting enough water. What's the best way to tell?. When I dig down with my hand the soil is damp (there's been a lot of rain obviously recently), is there a rule of thumb way to tell if I should water more or not?

Thanks everyone for the replies.

macraignil

Idioteque wrote: »

I planted a number of Laurel about 6 weeks ago. I got them from Carragh Nurseries and they were in 10Ltr pots. I'd say about 15-20% of the leaves had bits missing from them and holes in them and some had a white powdery substance on them.

They were planted into a narrow bed around a driveway but the soil is apparently good so I thought I'd take a chance.

Since I've planted them I'd say around 25% of leaves have bits missing or brown marks on them. In the past 2 weeks a load of new shoots have started to appear but the majority of them have brown on the tips/edges.

I've done a little reading up and some articles say it's nothing to worry about and Laurel is hardy and will outgrow the problem whereas others say lots of possible problems with differing solutions.


Any help appreciated - you can see pics here

I'd be in agreement with the articles that say it's nothing to worry about and Laurel is hardy. The new growth is looking fairly healthy and the marks on the leaves don't look to be anything serious in my opinion. As said above we have had some late frosts that might explain the small few brown bits. If you can feel the soil is damp then there should be enough water for the plants and I think you just need to have some patience to allow them to settle in and start growing more fresh unmarked leaves.

standardg60

macraignil wrote: »

I'd be in agreement with the articles that say it's nothing to worry about and Laurel is hardy. The new growth is looking fairly healthy and the marks on the leaves don't look to be anything serious in my opinion. As said above we have had some late frosts that might explain the small few brown bits. If you can feel the soil is damp then there should be enough water for the plants and I think you just need to have some patience to allow them to settle in and start growing more fresh unmarked leaves.

+1
There's nothing wrong with those plants apart from the natural degradation of old leaves and a touch of frost on the new ones, give them a good drink once a week and they'll be fine.