why?

[bmpsands]

Our neighbours have been away for a month and their bay hedge seems to have developed a problem. The leaves are staining dark brown/black from the stem outward. There's no sign of pest or disease. I notice that another house in the hamlet has a newish planting that will become a hedge and the leaves on that are doing the same thing, but round the edges of the leaves. In both cases more than half the leaf is affected.

Any ideas?

[Stef]

It could just be a reaction to the cold weather we have had, especially in the recent winds as they get wind scorched quite easily. Bays can sulk for months but they often just revive and come back with little intervention.

Our potted ones are a little bit brown but 2 have started shooting nice new green leaves, the other is still sat in a huff.

You/they could trim them back to make it look prettier and give the insides more sun... that is all I ever do with them.

[bmpsands]

Thanks Stef - We've had such up and down weather that, if I were a bay hedge, I would sulk also.

Bea

[LittleBrownFrog]

My bay is the same, just on the windward side.

[Spreckly]

We have had similar with non-gardening neighbour's enormous leyllandi and holly, and some of our golden privet. Other hedges in the village are similary affected, and we are only a few miles from the sea. We have also had a lot of salt blown by the wind onto windows and paintwork.

[Homemade]

With a bay tree it is worth looking to see if it is sooty mould. Does the black wipe off of the leaves?
If it does then it is mould growing on what is politely termed honeydew or aphid/scale insect poo!

Look at the underside of the leaves and if there a small brown raised dots like tiny limpets them you have scale insects which are pooing onto the lower leaves.

The cure is to use a systemic insecticide to kill the bugs. The mould is just unsightly and can be left to wash off.

Sprekly - Brown patches on Leylandii can be due to tiny almost invisible aphid which will eventually kill the plant. They can also be controlled with insecticide if the infestation is not to bad , but personally if it is Leylandii I would rather they .

[Spreckly]

Homemade - unfortunately it isn't the little insects on the leylandii, I wish it were, as neighbour refuses to cut it. Most of the hedge (not ours), is affected with what Bea describes, and it has affected other trees in the village, which are in direct line to the sea air.

[Linda S]

Spreckly one of our holly trees has lots of brown patches on the leaves and quite a lot have gone yellow its flowering but i dont know whats up with it Lindaxx

[bmpsands]

Here's an update. The bay leaves never recovered - but more have grown. Many of the leaves in the village look a bit patchy but are fighting back.

The bad news is that the etiolated beech tree in our garden, that grew to about 35 ft before we moved in, has also been affected. There are so few healthy leaves on it that I am seriously worried. We were going to splurge on a tree surgeon visit at the back end of the year to see how to reduce it in size without ruining it. I now wonder if it will survive. I'm assuming that something that big will be tough but I am concerned.