why are some of the leaves on my beech hedginging turning rusty coloured
By Laurelbank
United Kingdom 
planted all the hedges (bare root) in Novemeber, all bar one have taken and are now full of green leaves, some of the leaves on some of the plants have started to go a rusty colour as if they have insufficient water, they are watered everyday. on some of the leaves the rust starts on the outside edges, yet on others the rust is in the middle and spreading outwards. what is this and how can i fix the problem, we are in london, the plants are on well drained soil.
25 May, 2009
Are you saying the leaves are actually rusty coloured, or there's rusty deposits on them? If they're rusty coloured, it's probably not enough water, since a beech hedge in the winter looks like twigs with rusty, dead leaves on. However, if you've got rusty deposits, like powder, this will be something called rust, a fungal infection, and can be treated with antifungal sprays. Watering every day, incidentally, is a bad idea - you want the plants to reach down into the soil for water, not sit at the top waiting for you to come along with your hose! Water well (half an hour with a sprinkler in each area) once a week, unless we've got temperatures of 80 degrees, when you might need to do it twice a week, but if you planted in November, they should have a reasonable root system already.
29 May, 2009