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Hawthorn Hedge Disease
Elms34
Posts: 3
Hi,
Please could I have some help identifying problems with my well established hawthorn hedge? There appear to be 2 problems. On some parts of the hedge the new leaves are going spotty and bumpy and then shrivelling up and dying (first picture). On other parts some of the leaves are dying and going brown from the stem upwards (second picture). Does anyone know what could be causing either of these problems and what I could do to remedy them? I am very keen to save this hedge as it is very important for the wildlife in the garden.
Many thanks
0
Posts
Re the second picture: it looks like frost damage to me so not to worry too much about that. It'll recover.
The first picture: I have seen this on hawthorn but I do not know what it is but suspect it's insects. How widespread is this? Just the odd shoot or a lot? If only the odd shoot, I wouldn't worry. Whatever insect it is, the birds will probably find them so you are helping the wildlife.
Thank you for your reply Redwing. That is good to know about the frost damage. The other problem is quite widespread on two of the 6 hedge bushes unfortunately. They had the same problem last year and we just hoped that they would recover but the same thing has happened again this year.
There are a number of diseases which could be infecting your hawthorns and top of the list would be Juniper rust which also affects pears although damage is usually seen later in the year. Do you have any junipers or cedar trees nearby? Hawthorn cannot infect other hawthorns with this, the host is juniper.
Others possibilities are powdery mildew and hawthorn red fold gall. Google those to see if any images look similar.
Thank you for your post. There are no cedar or juniper trees around us as far as I am aware. It looks most similar to hawthorn red fold gall. However, I have just noticed today that the new healthy growing tips of the branches are covered in small green insects which I assume to be aphids. Could these be the cause of the damage or just a symptom of something else underlying? Would widespread aphid attack be fatal to the hedge?
Many thanks.