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Disease and/or insects on Quercia Ilex?

Hello. Can anyone help with identifying what’s wrong with, and treatment for these preached Quercia Ilex trees? They’ve been in situ a few years - I’ve only just moved in so don’t know if it’s happened before. I think the insects might be Lachnus roboris but not sure. Also is there a disease as well? Yikes! How do I treat please?

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  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    I can't see the branches that well, but they may well be aphids.  My guess is the trees may well have suffered from earlier dry weather conditions. Some shrubs and trees can take a while to show their symptoms.

    It may need a good top dressing of well rotted manure and plenty of water next year when it is growing again. You can prune out bad areas, but long-term, it needs a mixture of pruning and watering.

    Holes on leaves and some discolouring are possible fungal/bacterial leaf disease. When this happens, it's more about making sure the plant has all the right conditions for survival. Watering, pruning out dead and diseased areas.

    The early contorting of branches to create the pleached form (in my opinion) may have caused it to suffer more as it leaves the branches/leaves to the elements and unable to put on bushy growth to combat cold and wind. If there is no improvement next year by summer, you may need to prune it hard to encourage new fresh growth.
  • Thank you thank you so much for your advice - I love this forum. You’ve been very helpful 😊
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