How terrible! They take a while to establish, so how awful to lose your tree after a few years.

Had you seen any symptoms? Bay seems to be susceptible to overwatering, which causes root rot; the leaves would turn yellow before the plant gives up. It also seems vulnerable to scale, which are little clam-like bugs that fasten to the stems.

I lost a big one two years ago. When I pulled it out of the pot I found that the bottom half of the huge planter was stone dry. Apparently the watering I had done was just going around and down the sides of the planter. I'm trying to make sure that the inner soil is getting wet too.

That reminds me of another possibility: Bay laurel's roots grow rapidly, and it quickly becomes pot-bound. You need to check periodically to see if the outer roots are becoming crowded or circling the bottom thickly. If you wait too long, the plant will need such frequent watering that the outer roots will stay waterlogged but the plant still won't get enough nutrients, leading to decline. If you discover the roots have become badly matted, tease them out gently and repot in a larger pot; if you need to remove some of the outer roots because they're too tangled, prune the plant to match, and keep it in light shade for a couple of weeks.

My container-planted bay tree suffered from being pot bound this year. I found my tree was fine and healthy that way for a few years, but in summer it was beginning to suffer with leaves starting to brown and drop. When I checked it later in the year it was pot bound despite being repotted into a larger pot only the previous year. Worse still I had it in a metal container and we had a short-term heatwave - I wonder if the roots close to the edge of the pot were getting scorched. I took the decision to plant it in the ground - I'll still clip it - and it's made an excellent recovery. They are hardy outside all year here in southern England and I never took it indoors even when it was potted, so I'd have thought definitely would be OK in the ground in California.

That said, my problems were gradual - I saw it worsening over months, not all at once. That does make me wonder whether it could be some disease.

My bay tree, Acer palmatum and Ribes odoratum are all prone to get scale but I wipe the things off the bark with a damp cloth. Doesn't entirely eradicate them but reduces the numbers considerably so that they don't do too much harm.

I have a long established long and high bay laurel hedge, no problems for 20 plus years but now mostly browning off and dying, no excessive watering

Hi Floral, thank you for your reply - photos attached

i am in Longfield Kent, South-East area of UK

To be honest the hedge has been self sufficient for 20 plus years,

just having the occasional trim / tidy up

But over the past year or so has suffered major die off

any help/advice to cure and save the hedge would very be grateful

showing gaps of dead sections removed

should i spray with fungus clear?

rake out all dead leaves at base of the hedge??

Right. Don't take this the wrong way but are you certain this is bay? I can't see the leaf arrangement in your picture but the problem looks very much like Viburnum tinus with thrips. Can you verify that the leaf arrangement is alternate and not opposite?

Thank you again Floral

all photos taken from looking into the hedge from standing in front of it

I’m still having trouble with the identification. The pictures don’t show the leaf arrangement clearly. Can you cut one twig and photograph it lying on a piece of white paper? I’m seeing tiny hairs an the leaf margins and petioles which is not a feature of bay. Does it smell like bay? It should be very strong. I don’t recall ever seeing bay with this kind of issue.

Could you also show some healthy foliage? That would help fix the id.

Viburnum tinus with thrips

I think you may well have cracked the case - Thank you