Is my Laurel dead?
julie2shoes
Posts: 5
Here’s hoping for a miracle...I had 10 8ft laurels planted in February/March. Most of them are doing well but 2 of them look totally dead, and their leaves are completely shrivelled, but as advised in previous threads I’ve scratched the bark and it’s showing as green below ergo they’re still alive (?) I’ve fed, watered and talked to them and now most of the leaves have entirely fallen off. My question is ‘will the leaves grow back on the current stems where the previous leaves were?’ I understand most people suggest cutting right down and wait for bushy shoots, but I’m not after a hedge, I just want some height to obliterate neighbouring windows.Any advice other than a burial? The photo below was taken about 3 weeks ago and now it’s practically naked (but still green under the bark) 🤔
Posts
You need to prune them back to create some side shoots. Same goes for the other shrubs. They will be weak plants left all exposed to the wind and sun.
Watering is also very important for shrubs that size. Be generous with watering. At least once a week with a thorough watering and more often into the warmer months.
The issue might be poor preparation of the planting hole and not cutting the shrub down after planting. The shrubs are trying to survive and losing leaves is one way to minimise losing water. Don’t worry about over watering. They need the water.