Where do you live? Do you have the area mulched? What is the exposure?

It sort of looks like Cherry laurel 'Otto Luyken'. Have you scouted out slugs? Set a saucer of beer underneath a plant and see if you get any activity. Maybe grasshoppers?

Could also be laurel 'Shot hole' disease caused by a fungus, if your weather tends to be damp with low light. Look that up and see if it matches your conditions.

I agree it looks like a form of Prunus laurocerasus.

one of the problems in the picture is the monoculture ....

there would most likely not be a problem.. if there were a mixture of plants.. so that one predator.. would not attack the whole line ...

if you dont see anything.. then perhaps you are looking at the wrong time of day .... i like the slug suggestion.. since they come out at night ... so get out there after dark with a flashlight.. and see if you spot anything ....

ken

The plant is Prunus laurocerasus 'Otto Luyken', dwarf cherry or English laurel.

Slugs seldom bother any broadleafed evergreens - the leaf tissue is too tough. This type of damage is very common to lots of broadleafed EG's in my area and can be attributed to root weevils. The larvae of root weevils can attach susceptible plant roots but it is the damage of the adult weevils that creates the notching of the foliage. Adult weevils are night feeders so that's why you don't see them.

Shot hole disease - exteremly common to 'Otto Luyken' - could also be playing a role but the damage pattern from that is usually a bit different - instead of the edge notching mostly seen in the above photos, distinct holes will develop in the interior of the foliage but if the problem is very pronounced, these lesions can coalesce and could look like the above.

I'd approach treatment on both fronts :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: root weevils

gilzers - my 2 plants were severely affected in '05, and have been healthy since I applied Heterorhabditis beneficial nematodes, gratefully recommended by another gardener in this forum.

how they looked then
{{gwi:279593}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Available from Arbico organics

It looks like root weevil damage. They come out at night.

Root weevil or Taxus weevil damage-- need to drench your soil in the spring once it unfreezes with an insecticide for that specific insect. Follow label directions as to amount and spacing of application.-- As others said-- its a cherry laurel plant which gets white flowers in the spring. If you are having a mild winter, the leaves could also benefit from application of an anti-desiccant like Wilt Pruf (apply when in the low 40's and up) to top and under of leaves with a pump sprayer.