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Sick Skip Laurel

last year

I have a 7 year old Laurel whose leaves started fading over the winter. This spring the new growth came in green, but has faded like the rest of the shrub. I’ve tried spraying with neem oil and used Bayer tree and shrub soil treatment to no avail. Any ideas of what the issue could be? I’ve never had issues in the 7 years since it was planted.

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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

last year

Have you checked for whitefly? What's the underside of the leaves look like?

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Comments (7)

Sandy Harlow
Original Author
last year
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I don't know how big the shrubs are but I used those cheap $1 plastic stakes you get at the garden stores along with chicken wire to protect what I don't want damaged by deer and rabbits. Below is a Balsaam Fir that was just a stick when I rescued it from the woods 3 years ago. The deer were hitting it hard and it wouldn't have taken it for much longer. I'm not worried about getting browsed some but would like to keep the main leader undamaged until it's tall enough where deer can't reach it. The wire is 2ft. wide so I stacked two high and just threaded the rods through the holes in the wire. That's only 4ft. high but the wire is stiff and the deer just don't want to mess with it. I also give it a spray once in a while. Once the new growth begins to harden off, the deer seem to loose interest. You could go to 6ft. very easily and bigger diameter if needed but this seems to work. Only two of the stakes need to be in the ground, the others only tie the two chicken wire hoops together. Here's what the tree looked like last Year. Even worse the year before last when I transplanted it. It will be over 5ft. high by the end of the season so I think I'll be able to 'let it go' with no protection next year.
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Sandy Harlow
Original Author
last year
Theres some white looking dust along the stem
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
That doesn't exactly look like whitefly but it is some kind of insect infestation. And a pretty significant one from the amount of stippling/discoloration showing.

Laurels of all cultivars are ubiquitous here....to the point where they are listed as borderline invasive. But I have never seen any with that severe of an issue.....typically just shothole or weevil damage. So don't take my word it is not whitefly :-) It just looks different from what I am used to.

The neem or even insecticidal soap should help but you must get it on the underside of the leaves and as complete coverage as possible. Not an easy task!

The Bayer systemic should work as well but is not a fast control. And the leaves are always going to look as they do now....until they naturally fall off due to age.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
Spider mites are not active in cool, wet springs. They prefer very dry and warm weather.....typically a late season issue. And they almost never both Prunus laurocerasus of any type. Plus, there is clear evidence of a few larger insect bodies on the reverse which are not at all indicative of spider mites (which cannot be seen by the naked eye) and no webbing is visible either.

Lacebugs are a very strong possibility to produce that degree of stippling.

But if the exceedingly remote chance it is spider mites, the neem oil will address them. It is a registered miticide
Sandy Harlow thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
cecily 7A
last year
Good morning Sandy, I'm not sure where you're located but spraying during hot weather can burn foliage. Please take a small branch to your county extension office for diagnosis to ensure you're not spraying multiple times while trying to guess the problem.
User
last year
last modified: last year
Oh bummer! Looks like spider mite damage. I just serviced a property with an entire hedge that’s been affected with spider mites and the leaf damage is similar. A miticide should be sufficient to prevent further damage.

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