Bay tree woe

Hi everyone. Thanks for having me in this group.

I need some advice on a bay tree.

I’ve had it since 2008 and it’s always been really healthy and produced tons of leaves. Recently the old leaves have been dying off, whole branches at a time, and as soon as new leaves grow they go the same way so the tree is looking very sick.

nothing has changed in terms of how I look after the tree so I’m wondering if anyone can identify a possible cause and a solution.

I’ve had this tree since my wedding day so am loathed to write it off.

i have attached some photos.

 

Hi Steve

Trees can show symptoms years after the problem has occurred, so it's not always clear how and why a tree is in distress, unless plainly obvious.

At first glance it looks to me to be one of two problems: Underwatering / overwatering or fungal infection (namely Diaporthe nobilis).

The watering problem can be investigated further, but the fungal infection just needs to run its course. You can trim out the dead and dying sections if you like, but you'd probably end up with an even more sparse tree.