This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Laurel trees
Ritchie
Posts: 36
Hi all, just joined this evening and would appriciate your advice. I purchased 20/30 small laurel trees to eventually form a hedge in front garden, they would be planted almost a full year now and have grown several inches. I believe I planted correctly taking advice from local garden centre, planted with bone meal and well watered for first few weeks as needed. The problem is these trees now look a dreadful yellow colour and the leaves have been ate to some degree some worse than others. I have sprayed towards the end of sept last year but remain the same. I understand they do not like very wet conditions and realise the field beside is badly water logged with no obvious drainage however the laurels are about a foot higher in my garden and not sitting at same level. Could this be the problem or should I be patient to allow them to establish for another while. Would appriciate your kind advice folks
0
Posts
Dig one of them up, if the roots smell like rotten wood, they are waterlogged. If so, you can dig the rest up, break up the soil below as deep as you can and mix in some soil and gravel and replant.
If the roots are fine and the base below the roots appears to be dry, if may, counter-intuitive though it may seem, be drought. Newly planted trees need a lot of watering the first few years until the roots spread out of the initial root ball. If the roots are dry and don't seem rotten, this is the most likely issue.
In my experience laurels have a tendency to go yellow with any stress.
What did you spray them with? (just interested)
Check for drowning as Jimmy suggests, otherwise I'd leave them alone till spring growth starts then give them a feed.
In the sticks near Peterborough
What should I feed them with then, bone meal ?
Thanks jimmy will try digging one up see what roots are like.
Mine went yellow in the first year, many years ago now. My neighbour suggested Miracle gro. They went green after that but have had yellow times since. They are now huge but some are quite yellow.
I have a short length of hedge, about a dozen plant,s that has always been green. They're in poor soil and frequently disappear under weeping willows but they are the happiest.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Could this be my problem if so what do I treat with?
That will be the problem, vine weevil grubs, you can get something called Provado vine weevil killer from your garden centre. That will sort the beasts out.
Whats the best treatment for them now to apply to soil to kill the grubs?