Cherry laurel leaf problem

Hi,

Firstly im new to the forum, so hello all.

I'm in need of some advice.

About 9 months ago we planned roughly 40m of cherry laurel to ultimately create a nice think high border to the drive. Everything was fine initially, however about 4 months ago I noticed that a few of the laurels, which were grouped together, had some damage to leaves at the top of the tree. I ignored this initially but have now noticed this has spread to other leaves and other nearby trees......not all, maybe 10% of them. Would anyone know what the cause could be, I can best describes the leaves as looking slightly lettuce like. Hopefully the pictures will help. Thanks!!

 

I cut some laurel hard back early last summer and all the new growth looks exactly the same as that.
I'm thinking of cutting back the damaged shoots this spring and keeping a close eye on the new growth.
My thinking is insect damage.

 

Was thinking it looked like insect damage to me as well. I have seen something similar on other plants where aphids have been feeding on the very young leaves which would be a bit more tender and easier for them to eat. Laurel is very tough so cutting back the damaged tips and allowing fresh shoots to replace them sounds like a good way to go.

 

Its funny you mention that. The damage started to appear shortly after I'd asked my gardener to trim the top off the laurels to make them all level, previously I'd been pruning them all by hand with secateurs. Did yours continue to spread?

 

Well, the new growth was fairly sparse, I cut a 10ft hedge down to about 3 ft so a hard cut back and a while before it starts to look good.
But my thinking is as @Macraignil says, some pest is attacking the young new shoots when still developing, and as the leaf grows the damage shows up.

I dont think its anything to be particully worried about although it does not look very nice.

I will cut the shoots back this spring and maybe apply a systemic insecticide as the new shoots start forming.

 

Hoverflies, ladybirds, lacewing, some types of wasp and other predatory insects will sort out small insect pests and solve this issue naturally if you don't use a systemic insecticide and kill the beneficial insects in your garden. I completely disagree with using insecticide on a robust plant like laurel as it should be vigorous enough to look after itself. I'd just trim off the damaged pieces and just keep an eye on the new shoots. If there was some pest attacking the new shoots I'd try washing them off with water squirted from a hose or squash then manually, but these pests will provide food for the predator insects and boost their numbers in time anyway to control the issue in the longer term.

 

I know the theory about Ladybirds Lacewings and Wasps etc. etc.

But often the pest is prevalent and the damage done before they do their job.
They may well have done their job last year, but too late to make a difference.

Its a matter of choice, and if you are prepared to put up with some damaged leaves, or not.

 

I'm not really all that good at identifying problems from photos, but, having said that...

It looks to me as if the leaves have holes in them. Cherry laurels like to have air around them, as they dont like damp conditions. When they are used as a hedge, the air circulation stops, they get damp, and holes start to appear in the leaves. These are not caused by insects, but a kind of fungus. It may be called something like shot hole disease.

The usual cure is to remove the infected leaves, pick up any that have fallen to the ground, and use some kind of fungicide, preferably an eco friendly one if available.