Laurel hedging dying all of a sudden

Hi
Nearly all of my cherry laurel hedging plants have started to die. I'm not sure why. I added fertilizer to my garden around 5 weeks ago (18-6-12) and the plants would have received some of that being as they border my lawn. I also trimmed the hedges around 4 weeks ago.
This problem started about 1 week ago and now I can see practically all the hedges dying. They had been very healthy looking up till then.
The leaves turn yellow, then brown then fall off. I have uploaded a few photos. What could this be?
Any help would be appreciated

 

I can't see that it would be the fertilizer that has created the damage. It looks like a leaf blight to me but sorry, I'm no expert on Laurels so perhaps other members will be able to help you.

 

Is it just the old leaves dying off? are new leaves appearing from the buds on the ends of the stems? and looking healthy?

 

P.S. Was the "fertiliser" used on the lawn "weed and feed"?

 

Thanks for the replies. The new buds are dying as well. The whole plant seems to be dying.
The fertiliser wasn't weed and feed

 

Unless waterlogged I think it has to be disease then. I thought they were tough as nails, so not familiar with what it might be I'm afraid.

 

18: 6: 12 will burn shrubs as it's far too strong for them. Farmers use it to bring on grass. It's ideal for that. Your grass could be 4' tall now!

I know. I've done it myself. It even killed nearly all the foliage on a 15' tall Hoheria tree. :(

The other reason is waterlogging in Laurels but it's almost certainly the 18: 6: 12 which has done it.

 

Ah ok, doesn't sound good then!
Does that mean the leaves will die and the plants will recover? Or will the plants themselves die also?
Is there anything I can do?

 

I would imagine that the plants would take a long time to recover and some of them won't. I dug up a bamboo this afternoon that I'd inadvertedly nuked with 18: 6: 12. There were tiny signs of new root growth on one of the roots but the rest were as dead as a dodo. I'd treated the bamboo last year with this fertilizer and got fantastic results but this year I went mad and I scattered two bags of the stuff around instead of the one the previous year. :( :(

It might be better to buy new bare root plants in the autumn. Laurel's cheap as chips anyway and in the right soil it'll grow quite fast.

 

Is this just the run-off from the lawn (which was fertilised), or was some 18-6-12 put on the Laurels too?

 

the laurels would have received the same dosage as my lawn - I use a rotary spreader so its not very accurate when trying to avoid the laurels!

 

OK ... I was hoping they would have only had "a bit of run-off" ... but if they got Full Wack then the fertiliser looks like being the culprit.

I wonder if you can wash some of the fertiliser salt out of the soil? "Flood it" ... although the laurels may not be thrilled with being waterlogged, they would at least recover from that.

More likely replant them in the Autumn I think. If that costs you a year's growth, and that is important, then I would be inclined to buy pot-grown plants now and grow them on during this year. They won't do as well as in-the-ground but they will be doing something (you'll need to pot them on to the next larger size of pot).

Or buy larger plants in the Autumn - they are probably going to be £20 a piece for moderately sized ones though ... and smaller ones would catch up after 3 years - depends if you want something "instantly", or are prepared to wait.

(If you are prepared to wait then put some effort into the soil, before planting, to give them a boost in their Early Years )