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pavel_bokovec

Newly planted cherry laurel hedge

6 years ago

We planted a short new hedge (Cherry Laurel Novita). There are yellow leaves on some plants (not all) and there is one plant where the leaves are drying out (as on the photo) although all the plants are watered in the same way.

Is this too much/little water or is it more likely to alkaline soil (or something else)? Thank you for any advice!

Comments (13)

  • PRO
    6 years ago

    Can you show a picture of the overall hedge, or at least a large section of it?

  • 6 years ago

    where are you.. big city name ....


    weather since planting ...


    how do you water ... how did you plant them ...


    were they potted or bare root??


    what does your seller/installer have to say about it??


    some amount of yellow and leaf loss might be entirely normal ... no plant holds it leaves forever.. and stress could cause older leaves to be sacrificed ...


    ken

  • 6 years ago

    We are in Brussels, Belgium. Weather has been mainly warm, watering every 1-2 days. Some photos of the hedge are attached. I wonder whether the problem could be too much of peat soil added when planting the hedge. Thanks for help!!!

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Plants in first two pictures are having severe problems. Dig around in the soil at their bases for visual clues. This includes the soil they came in. Unless the way they were handled prior to planting was damaging my first impression is that they have not been getting enough water. At any rate something about the rooting environment is not right - too dry, too wet, strong chemicals used at planting...

  • 6 years ago

    Thanks! I attach a few pictures how they looked like upon delivery. They did seem to have been dry for some time. I replanted them today mixing the peat soil with soil from elsewhere in the garden. The root system was wet but did not seem to be drowning. Thanks for you help!!

  • PRO
    6 years ago

    The burlap looks like fresh wrapped, as if they were freshly dug. In leaf, that would mean stress to the plant and a setback for a period of time. If that's the case, they need frequent sprinkling of the foliage, almost like a fresh sod installation. If they were in good shape on receipt and went downhill quickly, I'd say that is another clue that they are under stress of fresh digging. A soil issue would not be showing up suddenly with a new planting. Check with grower about when they were dug. If the problem is being freshly dug, the best solution would be placing them under an automatic mist system for a few days -- one that turns on mist for a minute or two every hour or something along those lines -- for a few days or couple of weeks ... until new roots can start to grow. A grower should not surprise a person with freshly dug plants that are in leaf. This is guessing. If I'm wrong, then I don't know what.

  • 6 years ago

    Between the burlap pots and the dry looking condition upon arrival, it looks like transplant shock to me. They will probably shed most of the leaves and have to bud back out from the stems.

  • 6 years ago

    You were supplied plants that were not handled correctly. As in dug with not enough roots, not kept moist after digging and the like. You should complain to the source - the dullest, most droopy ones in particular looked like they were at death's door even before being planted on your site.

    On another subject skip the amendments when doing any future plantings of woody or other long term plants.

  • 6 years ago

    Thanks a lot for your help! As I am a non-native English speaker - what does it mean "skip the amendments" when doing any future plantings? Thank you :)

  • 6 years ago

    Thanks a lot for your advice - the plants seem to be getting better. Some of the new leaves have black dots on them - would you know what this could be?

  • 6 years ago

    Probably a bacterial infestation

  • PRO
    6 years ago

    The black marks do not look like disease or infestation to me. The growing tips have suffered and partially died during the previous bad spell. Actual dead tissue never comes back to life, but it seems that the new growth is coming now. Since the plants seem to be getting overall better, I'd keep doing what you're doing. It would be expected for plants that are dug while in leaf to suffer before they turn around and begin growing. I think you're in this transitional period but that the general direction is positive.