Yellowing leaves on English cherry laurel

[Hedgingmybets]

Hi everyone, Posting here as a novice

Situation is a new piece of land, a trench was dug 2 montho ago filled with soil.. its kind of clay like in my opinion and holds water well. We live in mid to south sweden and we planted alot of english cherry laurels in 2 months ago - they were rootballs. So 2 months has passed, to me they seem to be growing really fast - like you can see in the pictures lots of new green shoots. Its like that for all my laurels that go around the property - theyre merging together and becoming thick.

I water them around twice weekly, using drip irrigation tubes as you can see in the picture, for around 1 hour a time. Now its full on summer and the temperatures are getting up. Theyre placed around the property and get sun most of the day.

However Ive noticed some yellow leaves start to appear - on quite a few of the laurels and nearly always towards or at the base of the plant. I dont see any infestations or bugs - i havent fertilised at all during the past 1 month either.

I did stick a moisture probe in today and surprised that in a few places it registered as dry. Ive always been worried about overwatering stuff since I learnt early on its an easy way to kill stuff.

So what do you guys think? Not enough water? Do i need to fertilise? or both? Or is this just actually normal and expected that some leaves will just die like this? Im grateful for any help!!

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https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/773997130330144818/1117451328516522096/20230610_214334.jpg?width=436&height=582

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/773997130330144818/1117451328873046056/20230610_214320.jpg

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[Toddz]

You could be over watering the plant. I don't know how dry it's where you are but that looks like over watering.

Switch to only watering once a week and see what happens. Pull the yellow leaves off so your not confused when you water only once a week.

 

[Hedgingmybets]

Thanks Toddz. I have been watering roughly twice a week for an hour at a time. About 1 month ago we started to get really warm weather and now its reaching around 28 degrees celcius so its hotting up.
I did wonder about it... when I stuck my probe in, the ground was hard/crumbly and the probe registered 'dry'.

 

[Chuck]

What is the flow rate of the emitters, 1/2 gallon per hour,1 gallon per hour? I don't think it is a watering issue at all. I think the plants are planted too deep. I know at least one of them is. Plus, the foliage looks too good to be water stressed.

 

[Hedgingmybets]

Thanks for the reply - the water emitters are 4L/hour according to the packaging.
I had wondered - so the foliage on all the laurels looks good as in, loads of new growth.
What to do?

 

[Toddz]

Thanks for the reply - the water emitters are 4L/hour according to the packaging.
I had wondered - so the foilage on all the laurels looks good as in, loads of new growth.
What to do?

Chuck has a better idea than mine.

 

[Hedgingmybets]

Sorry for the very basic question, how far down should the rootball go?

 

[Chuck]

Sorry for the very basic question, how far down should the rootball go?

A hedge is basically a short multi-trunked tree and as such has what is called a root flare. The root flare is where the roots start spreading out from the trunk/trunks. You want the tops of the roots exposed with nothing covering them up. Google root flare for images and explanations.

 

[Hedgingmybets]

I understand, thank you for the information. Is it possible to just like.. excavate soil around the top? Or you reckon requires a complete dig up and replant ?
If they're left as, will they wither away over the next few months and die?

 

[Chuck]

I understand, thank you for the information. Is it possible to just like.. excavate soil around the top? Or you reckon requires a complete dig up and replant ?
If they're left as, will they wither away over the next few months and die?

It is entirely possible to just pull back the soil but you don't really know until you have actually done it. How long have the plants been planted and were they bag and burlap or were they in containers? If in containers it will be easier than bag and burlap to dig up and replant. But the main thing is how long they have been in the ground. If left as is and the problem is being planted too deep the life of the plants will be shortened, to what degree I cannot say. But, they will always be stressed and as the problem persists, the symptoms will show to a greater degree. But, on a more positive thought, being planted on top of a raised furrow will make things easier to deal with. The first thing I would do is just gently pull away the soil from the plant. It may be that is all you have to do. When you do one take pictures of the entire process from the beginning to when you first see the roots.

 

[Hedgingmybets]

Hey. They were bag/burlap - unwrapped and then placed in (done by some contractors when we had moved in). They've been planted there for 2 months now. Thank you very much for your advice its really helpful, i will identify some of them that look too deep and start digging/pulling!!!

 

[Chuck]

Hey. They were bag/burlap - unwrapped and then placed in (done by some contractors when we had moved in). They've been planted there for 2 months now. Thank you very much for your advice its really helpful, i will identify some of them that look too deep and start digging/pulling!!!

Two months isn't all that long. Roots normally take a fairly long time to grow to be significant enough seriously damage a plant if it is cut. But for now just pull back the soil so you can see what you have.

 

[Hedgingmybets]

Thanks Chuck - will try this.