Oh dear - it looks as though it might be two possible causes. They are not totally hardy, so the very cold winter might have affected it, especially as it's in a pot.

The other possibility is that it may be pot-bound, so try re-potting it and give it a feed and plenty of water.

One good thing is the new growth I can see at the base. If the top growth dies die back further, you'll be able to cut it right back.

Agree with spritzhenry, i have been keeping a carefull eye on numerous bays, and the potted bays similar to yours i have noticed new shoots starting to emerge from the top growth, its a slow process, are there any signs of re growth on yours? regarding large bays planted in the ground which were completely dead looking i have seen many new shoots coming through, julien.

My 2 standard bays have suffered this year Jackie, ive picked off all the yellow/brown and diseased/insect ridden leaves, fed it, sprayed it with appropiate sprays and it is looking a lot better, at least there's new tip growth. check yours for insects and disease and treat accordingly, it looks like its a standard so i would cut the growth from the bottom out if you want to keep it as a standard, if not, do as Spritz has advised.. Good Luck..

I cut mine right down to the ground level when this happened to mine, and retrained it as a round shrub.

I have found if I let the new growth come from the bottom it takes all the strength from the top and weakens it so I always cut the new shoots off at the bottom as soon as I see them. If this was mine I would take some cuttings from the bottom growth and when growing keep the best ones to grow into a new standard. Do not cut the top off these cuttings at all. I would then make a decision to either cut the old one down to make it a bush or remove all the lower growth and try and revive the top; I would spray with maxi crop growth stimulant now. Looks like it needs a bigger pot as well.

There is a suspicious bulge on that trunk which looks like an embedded tie wire. Anything above that scar is dead, but doesn't know it yet. It would be better to cut it off and re-train it.

My bay tree seemed to survive the winter then all of a sudden it started to go brown. There is new top growth but I want the growth further down so I have cut away about half of the branches in the hope that I can save it. Mine is in the ground.