What is wrong with my Portuguese Laurel?

Hello,

I've planted about 20 new bushes of Portuguese Laurel and some are turning yellow with black spots on the leaves - any advice really appreciated!

Please see photo attached.

Many thanks,

Matt

 

hi i haven't grown larel but saw this info
It look fairly natural usually that the trees just taking nutrient out of the leaves that are less useful to help new growth. The best time to trim hedge plants is usually said to be in the spring when new growth is at its fastest so any gaps produced by the pruning are filled in quickly. Evergreen standards could be trimmed at the same time but by how much just depends on how big you want to let them grow. If standard laurel trees take off the odd branch that is going off in an awkward direction initially but they are usually so vigorous that a variety of treatments work fine. In case it gets worse it couuld be an infection keep your eye on it andif it turned out infected
You can boost its immune system, maybe with some kind of fermented tea Top 5 weeds to use for making weed tea – ferment those weeds away!
You could prune off the tips that are infected. But do this carefully, lifting the branches out without letting them touch other branches much. Also dip your pruner in alcohol to kill any bacteria between cuts. Put the clippings in a pail and either bag them up or burn them. But maybe some one else knows more about larel

 

Hi Janet,

Thanks for the helpful advice - I was really after an explanation of what was causing the leaf yellowing and the black spots?

Matt

 

It looks fungal, other than that I wouldn't like to guess.
You could try a fungicide but often leaf spot type problems are difficult to eradicate entirely.

 

Thanks Pete,

That’s helpful - would you get that result if Roundup or some other weed killer had been applied?

It feels like something has possibly been sprayed on them.

Matt

 

Wouldn't expect weedkiller to cause leaf spotting.
You say they are newly planted and with this years weather as well they will have been under a lot of stress. Stressed plants are more prone to infections, I wouldn't be overly concerned if it's just some leaves on some plants. Next year when they are more established and growing well they should be fine.
Laurels are generally trouble free.

 

Hi Nigel,

Thanks for your comments - the problem is that this has occurred on 3-4 other bushes and they ended up dying so I’m really keen to find out the cause.

Matt

 

I agree with Nigel, the plants are probably a bit stressed.
I don't really agree in laurel being trouble free though I'm really referring to cherry laurel, it seems trouble free if you just let it grow, but once you start clipping it it seems to suffer from every problem imaginable.

 

Were these 3 or 4 bushes also Laurel and part of the 20 originally mentioned?
When were the 20 Laurel planted?
How big were they when planted?
Soil conditions?
A few pictures of the general hedge and garden woul help as would an indication of location.