What’s wrong with my laurel?!

Hi All,
I planted about 15 30cm high laurel plants last spring with a long term goal of creating a tall hedge. They’re all doing well apart from this one which looks to me like it’s being eaten by something! I tried slug/snail pellets and killed off the local population (!) but the problem persists. It’s trying to grow but the new leaves suffer the same fate! There are similar plants either side about 3ft away which are not affected and are growing vigorously. Any ideas?!
Many thanks in advance!

 

I would consider powdery mildew. You would see a white powdery coat but then goes brown and dies. You would get holes and scrawny edges like your leaf. Is this the only affected one? What position is it in your hedge? Scotland has moderate (ahem!) temperature which it loves. High humidity is also a breeding ground for mildew. You can buy sprays to deal with it

 

Some of the leaves in your picture have been cut in half, that suggests to me a pest rather than a disease. Vine weevil comes to mind but they are more likely to create holes in leaves.

 

Dont think I'd worry about it.
it's the kind of thing that the plant often grows out of in the new season, next year.

 

Laurel is tough. I grow lots of it, and there is usually some leaf damage very like you have there @MattC76. I think you probably have leaf cutter bees at work, as well as a few adult vine weevils tucking in. My 'eaten' laurels always grow away strongly once the spring comes, and the chewed leaves have to be clipped anyway to keep the plants in check.

Using slug pellets is not really a great idea in my book, especially around tough stuff like laurel. Poison does more harm than good - it`s an ongoing thing, as other animals eat the poisoned ones, and die (like hedgehogs for example, and birds)

 

Hi, I am new to this forum and not sure if I am using it correctly (apologies if I have hijacked a thread) but I have a laurel hedge question. Last September I planted a laurel hedge with 90cm laurel plants delivered in pots from an online hedge company. They have taken well. The ground is rubbish but I continually watered them until around end of October. My question is - I want the hedge to thicken so should I be pruning now and should I begin watering again? Gardening is not my specialist subject!!!

Thanks.

Bob

 

Welcome Bob
I would not water right now......I assume you have had a wet winter and soil is moist anyway.
I would prune back, yes, and could do it now but better to wait a while...3 or 4 weeks....when you see signs of new growth. No need to hack back hard ....trim every stem to buds to encourage shoots lower down.
Incidentally nothing crucial to worry about.....you wont damage them by pruning .

 

Thank you Verdun, very helpful.