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paulie

By Paulie

Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom

I have a bush in my garden which seems to be suffering from some type of botanical ailment.

Please find below three photos of the bush in question.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

In essence, I would like it if someone could:
A) Identify the bush
B) Provide a suitable course of action to remedy the leaf damage.

Thanks




Answers

 

It's Prunus laurocerasus - this is a tough, hardy shrub, and doesn't suffer too much from pests and diseases. Nonetheless, inspect the back of the leaves and the stems for signs of scale or other insect infestation. If none, suggest you cut it back to remove most of the damaged leaves, and give it a good feed with something like Miracle Gro general purpose (I would suggest Growmore granules, but I can see you've got gravel at the bottom, so you can't rake it in to the soil at the base).

16 May, 2010

 

I had a look on wikipedia for Prunus laurocerasus and I noticed that it should flower, but I have never seen this bush flower in 4 years in that manner.

Also, all of the leaves have this damage aside from perhaps the first two nodes.

The leaves dont appear to be as waxy as the photos of Prunus laurocerasus and the leaves not as dark.

Thanks again,

16 May, 2010

 

It's Prunus laurocerasus - but not as it should be - it's unhealthy, looks as if its being grown in very poor conditions (from the state of the plant) and is in dire need of feeding and possibly treating for whatever is attacking it - being grown poorly will make the plant susceptible to disease.

16 May, 2010

 

It also looked like something was chewing on the leaves. I'd come out at night with a flashlight and look for caterpillars, grasshoppers, Katydids, snails, slugs, etc.

16 May, 2010

 

And I forgot to ask what it's growing in - the presence of gravel beneath the plant means I can't see if its growing in a very restricted amount of soil.

16 May, 2010

How do I say thanks?

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