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Unknown Plant - Needs love, unsure what to do as unsure what it is and what it needs

gemma.crockfordgemma.crockford Posts: 14
in Problem solving
Hello!

I recently moved into a property and inherited this plant/shrub. It really doesn't look happy but I'm not sure what it is or what to do! Can anyone help?!

Thanks!

Posts

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Is it a bay tree? Do the leaves smell?
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • gemma.crockfordgemma.crockford Posts: 14
    I will ask my husband to smell them when he gets home, I have no sense of smell, if they do smell does it look like a bay tree? Thanks!
  • EmerionEmerion Posts: 599
    edited April 2021
    Hi,  this is my bay tree,  not sure if it’s the same. The leaves on your plant look longer. Tell your husband to snap a leaf in half to smell it. If you’ve got some bay leaves in your kitchen herbs, he can compare them. It will smell quite sweet and pleasant. They can look a bit tired after winter, but I can see that yours is yellowing from the edges, and I think that might mean that the soil is too alkaline. Not an expert though.  A balanced feed might help the plant help as well, but if the soil is too alkaline, plant feed won’t fix the problem. Have a look around online for ways of adding some acidic matter to the soil. If you know that your soil is generally very alkaline it will be an ongoing issue though. Don’t know if bays tolerate being dug up and put in a pot with more balanced soil. No doubt someone else will know though.
    Carmarthenshire (mild, wet, windy). Loam over shale, very slightly sloping, so free draining. Mildly acidic or neutral.


  • PianoplayerPianoplayer Posts: 624
    Hi, not sure it is a bay, but whatever it is, I agree that the yellowing looks like a nutrient deficiency. So will definitely need feeding. Hopefully someone will be able to confirm its identity so that you know what specifically it needs.
    https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=772
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    It looks like it may be rhododendron family.  Those need acid (ericaceous) soil, or their roots can't take up certain nutrients and the result is yellowing leaves and poor growth if planted in alkaline (chalky) soil.

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    I'm sure Bob is right, that doesn't look like a baytree to me.
    I would dig it up and put it into a fairly large pot in ericaceous compost.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • SkandiSkandi Posts: 1,723
    I don't think it looks anything like a rhododendron the leaves are arranged incorrectly I would also say it was a bay tree, the buds and bark look right as do the leaves, they don't look thick enough for a rhododendron and the buds are completely wrong. I guess we'll have to wait until mr Crockford gets home.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Skimmia, perhaps? They also get chlorosis (the yellowing leaves) in limy soil.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • gemma.crockfordgemma.crockford Posts: 14
    Thank You all for your responses, my husband has smelt the keaf and said it does smell sweet, I have dried bat leaves and he compared them and said they do smell simular.... so it coukd be a Bay, it does quite look like a Skimmia (I had never heard of that before) I am thinking that first thing tomorrow I will put in my largest barrell container with new compost and fish blood and bone, does every one think that is the best thing to do? Thank You again for all of the help :o)
  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    I'm not convinced it is Bay. I thought the same as BobTheGardener on the Rhododendron because of the yellowing leaves.

    Mountain Laurel, Kalmia Latifolia could be another possibility as it is also an acid loving shrub that can end up yellowing if grown in alkaline soil.
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