It would help to consider a few more questions first: How long has the mountain laurel been in that location? Is it new or well established? Could you have applied too much fertilizer? Is this in a sunny location or part shade?

I bought it at Fairweather Nurseries that are within about an hours drive from here. They have occasional sales where you can go on the property and are usually mailorder. I cannot say they are offering snowdrift presently and I have heard it is a little difficult to propogate. Woodlanders Nursery offers a hybrid(not white), that is supposed to be a little more tolerant of southern heat, if any readers live South. They have gone entirely on line now, no longer mailing catalogs.

The buds for next years flowers form right after blooming. They are just kind of long, dried up, tail looking things. For a time I didn't know what they were and was tempted to trim them off. So if anyone wants to shape up the tree after blooming, just be sure to leave them alone. They are next years blooms.

Yesterday, I had my arborist come by to review some items on my property. My house is quite old, 90 now and many of the plantings have been there for nearly as long I imagine. Keeping them healthy is a concern. There are 2 Mountain Laurels on one side of the home which have seen better days but, continue to bloom profusely each spring. They do need some trimming back - dead heavy branches certainly aren't good to keep on them so starting this year we're going to begin a rejuvenation process. While looking it over yesterday, the arborist (who I know for many years, used him at a different house previously) noticed there was odd damage on nearly every branch low and high. The pattern of damage is circular around the branch, very even, with missing bark and small holes. He had never seen such repetitive strange markings before and immediately we both thought of some kind of animal but weren't sure exactly what. After he left, I found info and photos on Google which clearly were similar and caused by Woodpeckers and Sapsuckers primarily. I sent him a message and he had just heard back from his specialist saying the same thing. So, now we know what did it, but do not know how to remedy it. The specialist thought the damage was not too severe yet - it seemed recent to this past winter which was particularly bad in New Jersey. Probably, they were searching for any kind of food possible. Does anyone know how to keep birds away from specific plantings? I never thought I'd have to keep them away - it's saddens me since I love having birds visit, as does our indoor cats; they give them endless hours of entertainment from afar. Nothing I've seen looks very useful and I'd like to know if anyone has actually used anything which works. Thanks! Laurie