Problem with common laurels

sumac asked 17 years ago

Hi Gerry. Last year we bought 16 fairly mature laurels in pots for a screen hedge. When I say mature, I mean they were all about 1.5 metres in height.
I understand now, that they probably would have taken to the ground better had they been younger.
They were all planted immediately, but three of them look to be on the way out despite my best efforts. The leaves are totally gone on one, & the other two are not far behind. The leaves on a fourth are gone completely yellow.
I’ve tried adding a small ammount of iron to the soil, but have since been told it’s more likely an acid deficiency.
What can I do? Are the leafless trees dead entirely? there is a little green colour on the branches still.
Thank you.

1 Answers

Gerry Daly Staff answered 7 years ago
Laurel can be planted as big plants and normally does well, but there is always a chance of a few failures. One of the main reasons for laurel plants to fail is to be planted in overly wet ground. If this is the case the ground should be drained, or made up, to get the roots out of the wet zone.

 Yellowing and leaf loss are normally caused by the ground being too wet, but it is possible some were perhaps planted a little too deeply, or were over-watered causing oxygen starvation of the roots.

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