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Please , what type of tree is this

Hi, please could some one identify this tree, and as to why it is now only thriving on the one side ?.

I purchased the tree 4 years ago from a local paper and the lady does not know what type it is.I purchased this when it was much smaller so I could plant it near my sons grave. It has always looked good over the 4 years, until I trimmed the top last summer. Now it is showing bare on the one side. Is the tree dying ?.

The tree is now about 4 ft high.

Thank youimage

Posts

  • It's prunus lusitanica (Portugal laurel) and no, it's not dying, but it's starved of food and water, so part of it has suffered. In a few weeks' time, give it a good organic mulch or a feed of a good quality fertiliser and, if the weather's dry, a couple of buckets of water. Check for damage low on the side where it's yellowed, just in case something has broken. The good green bit will probably take over. Mine was 12 ft tall in just a few years, so it's a vigorous enough shrub. Consider cutting out the yellowed bit, about late March time. Can't see if it's in a pot. If it is, then that would seriously inhibit its growth potential 

    H-C

  • Hi. Thank you so much, I will try what you suggest, and try to recover it. The ground that the tree is in ,is quite water logged. But it's on a slope so I'm wondering if the water is running away too quickly. Another thing is , on the yellow side some one tied an ornament quite tight around a thick branch stem, which is cutting into the bark. I am now wondering if this is restricting the growth on that side. Anyway I will cut off the string to see if it helps.

    Thank you.

  • I think that string may be at least part of the problem.

    Hope removing it helps.  If not I'd cut off the damaged branch - the rest of the tree will soon bush out and fill the gap.

    image


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





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