Struggling Portuguese Laurel hedge

cookie1234

Hi there,

I've a Portuguese Laurel hedge that seems to be struggling. It's 12 years old. Thrived for about 8 years but then started to lose its leaves in autumn and got steadily worse since. It's now developed a lichen on the branches, see pictures. Any suggestions on how to treat this and put some life back in to the hedge would be appreciated

cookie1234

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Pics attached here

looksee

The lichen is not the cause of the hedge failing. It is harmless and grows on trees where the air is unpolluted. I can't say what the problem is with the hedge though.

standardg60

That's fecked unfortunately. Is the ground wet?

Looks like a case of waterlogging which they don't like at all.

cookie1234

Thanks for that. Any suggestions on a fertilizer for laurel hedges? Spray on if possible.

cookie1234

Well it's been wet obviously but the drainage is pretty good round the hedge.

standardg60

You'd be wasting your time with a liquid fertilizer, a granular one like growmore might help but I wouldn't be holding my breath.

macraignil

Maybe some wider angle photos of the hedge might give a clue in the setting as to why it has been struggling. Is there a wall or concrete driveway near it that might be reducing the amount of healthy soil available for its roots? Do the base of the shrubs look healthy?

Lichen just indicates it is growing slowly.

cap.in.hand.

Is your site prone to getting cold windy conditions...it can really test out the best of hedges

cookie1234

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Here are more pics. Thanks for the help!

The lichen is indicative of humid clean air. It does absolutely no harm but is probably indicative of damp conditions which as other have said is not ideal.

looksee

I don't see a lot of hope for that hedge, however one thing that comes to mind is cutting a couple of them back to ground level and see do they re-grow healthy shoots. Its a 'solution' that is going to take a number of seasons though, if it works.

macraignil

Not any clearer from the extra photos to me what exactly is causing the poor health of the Portuguese laurels. Is there a weed membrane around the base that might be clogged up with the grass roots and not letting much nutrients and water penetrate down to the laurel roots? If it was my hedge I would try pull up as much of the grass around the base of the hedge as I had the patience to take out as this will be competing with the laurels for water and nutrients and after this I'd give it a mulch of home made compost or matured manure of some sort. Might at this stage be worth giving it a bit of a trim off the top as well to see if this would encourage some fresh growth.

cookie1234

Thanks. There's no membrane but loads of weeds. I've made a start clearing them out and plan to loosen soil round the bases and fertilize with Growmore to start while I try source manure. Such a shame to lose the hedge at this stage!

macraignil

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122051226#Comment_122051226

Great that you are clearing the weeds but not sure what you mean by loosening the soil. The hedge plants would have roots that I would think need to be protected as much as possible when doing the weeding. That's why I mentioned pulling out the grass but if some of the weeds under the hedge have tap roots then you might need something like a trowel to help lever them out. Dragging a hoe across the surface would in my opinion cause too much damage to the hedge plant roots and definitely don't use a strimmer as this can cut the hedge plant trunks that have their living parts near the surface. A bit of extra nutrients now when temperatures are warming up should stimulate some growth in the laurel if they are possible to save. I only ever planted one Portuguese laurel shrub and it did go through a couple of years of looking a bit unhealthy after being planted in good health but has recovered well more recently and since I cut back a competing shrub over the winter just gone it is putting on some good new growth now.

Happy gardening!

cookie1234

Sorry was a poor description of my plan. I thought, similar to using an aerator on a lawn, if I used a garden fork to put some holes around the bases of the plants it might improve drainage and help to get the Growmore fertilizer where it needs to get to when I water it in. Will I be doing more harm than good here?

macraignil

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122051849#Comment_122051849

It's not something I'd want to try anyway. I find manure and compost left on the surface works fine with rain and earth worms helping it find its way deeper into the soil over time.

Happy gardening!

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122051849#Comment_122051849

When applying the granular fertilizer you just fling it generously along and around the hedge like feeding chickens, no need for forking or watering in.

cookie1234

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Done about a quarter of the hedge and looking for reassurance. Too much fertilizer or not enough??

standardg60

I'd call that a generous feed🙂

Ease off slightly