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Established Laurel hedge rot

richardmdraperrichardmdraper Posts: 5
in Problem solving
Hi - I have a very established Laurel hedge that appears to be dying. We have literally pulled out trunks from the hedge with our bare hands that are rotting and dead. Leaves are being attacked and the old wood too. Many of the plants are covered in a white/grey fungus which we first noticed on a couple of plants that had been sheltered under a tree last year. We removed the tree 12 months ago to give the hedge more space to breathe. I suspect years of falling leaves have not been tidied by the previous owners and the problem may have started there. Problem now seems the whole hedge (35metres) seems to be getting affected. Leaves are turning brown and the wood on main stems is also under attack by something that looks white and scaly. 

Any ideas...? And how do we treat this please. It’s a huge hedge to replace so we really don’t want to lose it 

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  • richardmdraperrichardmdraper Posts: 5

  • richardmdraperrichardmdraper Posts: 5

  • richardmdraperrichardmdraper Posts: 5
    Hi - Anyone have any thoughts on this..? Please. 

    Thanks 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited March 2021
    🤔 the first pics appear to show lichen which is not something I’d be concerned about.  The brown leaves could be weather related or something more ...
    However the white fungus on the last pic is more worrying. If you cut through that section of wood I suspect you’d find it's rotting from the inside.

    It may be that the large  tree took too much moisture from the soil oveff TV the past few summers and consequently the hedge has been struggling. I don’t know if you can save it but it’s worth a go, especially as it’s a long hedge. 

    My instinct is to clear all the dead leaves and detritus from the base of the hedge to allow free flow of air.  I would then scatter a light dressing oc flow acting organic fertiliser such as Fish, Blood & Bone, Water it in well and then mulch the root area with organic mulch such as garden compost or composted bark. 

    Some others may be along with more ideas ... 😊 



    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • richardmdraperrichardmdraper Posts: 5
    Thanks. Yes, some of the larger branches are dead and rotting, you can literally pull them out off the shrub. The earlier pictures show something that looks like lichen but it isn't, it's a powdery fur, could this be powdery mildew??? The scaly growth on the brown wood (last pic) seems more ominous though and I'm worried about this.

    Would a fungicide be in order do we think..? - it's a long and tall hedge!
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Ah ... not lichen then. 

    I think that once you’ve got       rot within the wood and that’s what that white growth would indicate  to me, then you’re past help from fungicide. 

    I think I’d do as I suggested, and if individual plants seem rotten at the roots I’d pull them out and then see what you’ve got left. 

    @Hostafan1 and @BobTheGardener and the rest of you... what do you think? 





    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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