Forum home› Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

How can I save my hedge?

aw209aw209 Posts: 3
in Plants
Hi there,

We have a fairly large laurel hedge and it seems to have some kind of disease. I've done some research but its symptoms don't seem to match the common laurel diseases (shot hole etc).

Please could you take a look at the images below and let me know if you recognise what this is and how to deal with it?

Many thanks in advance,
Alex


Posts

  • bcpathomebcpathome Posts: 1,313
    I’m no expert but I think it’s just needing water ……..like everything else 
  • aw209aw209 Posts: 3
    Hmm... I don't think it's that simple unfortunately. For example, if you rub the leaves with your fingers a brown powerder like substance comes off. I think it's some kind of fungal disease.

    It started in the patch shown in the third picture above, but has spread so that practically every leaf on the entire hedge now has it to some extent.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    They look very crowded,  when people plant these laurels they have no idea how big they will get.  If they were mine I would cut them down, very severely,  have a look at them at the base, see how close they’re planted together,  maybe thin them out, I’m sure it’s weather related this year,  they like damp shade,  nothings had that this year.
    Don't give up hope with them. It’s a job to kill them,  they grow so quickly so cut back and see how they go.  
     You’ve nothing to lose because they’re not going to recover anyway from the way they are now. 
    Sounds drastic but that’s what I would do. 
    I wouldn’t put the diseased leaves in the compost because of the fungus, so dispose of it in the landfill. 
    Goes without saying that they’ll need lots of water.

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    The problem is that fungal diseases strike when the plant is already weakened due to stress … often from drought caused by weather, drought and/or overcrowding. 

    From what I can see there’s very little bare soil around the hedge … is there a driveway alongside it on one or both sides?  This will mean that when it does rain (if it ever does again 🙄) very little if any moisture will get to the roots of the plants … added to which the leaves of the hedge act as an umbrella and keep the root area dry. 

    I agree with @Lyn … I would cut them right down, try to thin them out … and give them several really good soakings. Laurel is
    pretty tough and given half a chance it’ll shoot away from low down and you’ll soon have a substantial hedge again. 

    Good luck 🤞 

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





  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    I have a similar problems with my beech hedge.  Especially in dry summers.  

    Look with a magnifying glass at the underside of the leaves, there may be little mites running about, and signs of webbing. Very similar to greenhouse red spider mite.
    Try spraying with  a systemic insecticide, or an emulsion of rapeseed oil and a touch of washing up liquid.  

    Wait for the shouts from the kill-nothing brigade.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    Not exactly shouting but always best to correctly ID the problem before gaily spraying with chemicals.
    As both @Lyn and @Dovefromabove have said, laurels are robust and not easy to kill.  Consider the most likely cause first and then go on from there. 
  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
    bédé said:


    Wait for the shouts from the kill-nothing brigade.
    It's not so much of the 'kill nothing', more the indiscriminate use of chemicals where it might not even be needed. Plants mostly succumb to pests and diseases when they're stressed, and will sort themselves out once the cause is addressed.
    Was that comment really necessary? 
  • aw209aw209 Posts: 3
    Thank you everyone for your thoughts. I will certainly give them a good water. When you say "cut them right down" how much should I leave? i.e. do I trim all the leaves off but leave the structure of the hedge intact or should I cut the branches back as well?

    Sorry, inexperienced gardener here! Your help is much appreciated.
Sign In or Register to comment.