Dried edges such as that indicate short of water.

Next challenge is to figure out why.

Looks like winter burn -- which is, in reality, a shortage of water or dessication of the leaves which occurs during the sunny, windy, cold spells in winter. You see this especially in plants exposed to a lot of winter sun. A number of Schip laurels grown in full sun were lost after the winter of 14-15 in my region (DC area).

Keep your plant well watered this season, use mulch. If it has no tip damage, it should grow quickly this summer. These are best planted in early Spring (rather than Fall) up here so they get a toe-hold before the rigors of winter.

super huge transplant last fall ... no real question of why it lacked water ...

it could also be transport damage ... where peeps grabbed the plant ...

no plant holds its leaves forever ... even 'evergreens' shed old leaves ... this is complicated if a transplant ... i like to think of it as the plant sacrificing some leaves for the survival of the whole ...

ken

I'll cross fingers then and be hopeful that some good watering going forward will cure the problem. It's ok if some leaves fall off, as long as these guys live. Thanks as always for the expert advice.