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Standard laurel trees lots of dead branches
GillyWilly2
Posts: 19
We were given 3 standard laurels a few years ago (not sure what type but the last 2 images might help identify). The one in front of my house, with the flowers, isn't too bad although a bit one sided, but the other two are full of dead stems with no leaves. Should I trim off all the dead stems or should I leave them and just see what happens? Can I do anything to get them back into the ball shape or is all hope lost? Thank you for any advice.
0
Posts
You can certainly take off dead branches, but the most important thing to do is to clear all the stuff away from around them. It's all competition for water, and they need a lot of that. If the last one is surrounded by the grass, you need to clear a good space around the base by removing the turf. Around a couple of feet diameter at least.
Those ties round the main trunks need loosened too - those will restrict, and possibly damage, them if too tight. They might already be causing damage. If those stakes were put in through the roots systems on planting, that won't have helped either.
It might be too late for the first two to recover well, but some decent clear soil and some regular watering might help.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...