Troubled Laurel

We'd love to know what's doing this to one of our Laurel bushes. We've already cut away some dead branches, but more have succumbed and if it carries on like this pretty soon the whole thing will be dead.

Could this be poisoinig? We had a small heating oil leak last autumn, which hasn't affected any of the plants between the laurel and the site of the leak, nor the lawn.

Any ideas?

 

Hi Floydy and welcome to the forum

It looks like winter damage to me (snow etc and freezing temperatures) ,just cut it away from the base and give the laurel a good feed and fresh mulch around the shrub.
I think the leak would of effected the lawn quicker so I am sticking with the bad winter we have had
I have in the past 5 weeks lost two hollies all down to the winter all turned brown .

Spruce

 

Thanks for that, Spruce. We'll do what you suggest and see how it goes.

 

Hello Floydy and welcome to the forum.
Your laurel looks in a bad way. I know we have had an atrocious winter and a lot of plants have suffered but that doesn't look like weather damage to me. By this time of the year weather damaged shrubs and hedges have recovered.
That laurel looks poisoned to me. If no other plants between your oil leak and the laurel suffered then
Could the laurel have been sprayed with something ?
Laurel is pretty tough stuff and its powers of recovery are amazing. All I can suggest is cut off all he dead stuff, feed it and water it and wait and see what happens.
I hope it all turns out well for you.

 

The plant is an Aucuba ( common name, spotted laurel ) rather that a prunus laurocerasus ( cherry laurel ).Spotted Laurel are much more tender than the true laurel, as such I would agree on it being frost damage. Evergreen plants always take a little while longer to show the results of adverse weather conditions.

 

Having had a second look at the pictures, I think Dai is right and it is spotted laurel (Aucuba) - much more tender than true laurel. In which case it could be weather damage, but it shouldn't be progressive. The advice remains the same - cut off the dead parts and wait and see.

 

Thanks to you all...

We have a large non-spotted (standard?) laurel hedge on another boundary that hasn't lost a single leaf, so I was wondering about the frost damage diagnosis. Till I read Dai's contribution