Distressed Bay Laurel Plants in Need of Assistance
I’ve written about my prized bay laurel plants in the past and shared how attractive, useful, and productive these culinary herb “trees” can be in the backyard kitchen garden.
The only drawback is that those of us gardening in cold climates must bring the plants indoors during the winter months where the home environment can be less than hospitable. And unlike potted fig trees, a cold, dark, garage or storage building just won’t do in this case.
Keep a Close Eye on Bay Laurel Plants Growing Indoors
My usual solution has been to hold off and move the bay laurel indoors as late in the season as possible, and to get it back outdoors as quickly as possible in the spring. Any disease, insect pests, or sickness that took hold during the time spent confined indoors always cleared up as soon as the plant went back outside.
All was fine and I enjoyed a gorgeous and thriving six-foot tall sweet bay tree until just recently. It appears that I was a little negligent in watering my bay tree and it did not make it through this past winter indoors. I’m sad, but can only blame myself, and count my blessings that a smaller bay tree did manage to survive the same treatment.
Th only advice I can offer to others is to pay careful attention when watering those house bound bay trees because once the foliage even begins to dry out, it’s all over! Nothing more can be done for my plant but I’m hoping that someone out there can help relieve Gillian’s concerns over two bay laurels that she is growing and describes from her home in Perthshire, Scotland:
Seeking Diagnosis and Care for Sickly Sweet Bay Plants
“Hi Kenny, I am at the end of my rope with two lovely bay laurels I have in pots at my front door. They are around 4 years old and have always lived in a sunny spot and seemed happy. They flower in the summer months too.”
“Recently, I’ve been noticing the leaves turning very yellow/brown and they have black pin head spots on them too. I am getting quite concerned about them! I have trawled the Internet and asked my gardener and he says it isn’t black spot or any of the usual bay diseases he’s come across.”
“Can you help? Or point me in the direction of someone who can? I’ve attached a pic (click on bay laurel photo for enlarged view) to help! I’d be very grateful for any advice you can give me.”
The tree doesn’t look that bad to me and I’ve noticed similar spotting and a few yellowing leaves on bay laurels that I’ve grown in the past but the problem didn’t seem too serious and I simply removed the diseased and discolored leaves from the tree.
If anyone can identify the problem for Gillian or recommend an organic remedy to control the disease please leave a comment below. It’s too late to do anything for my favorite bay laurel, but hopefully someone will come to the aid of Gillian’s distressed plant!
Other Related Vegetable Gardening Posts:
March 27th, 2009 at 9:07 am
Perhaps the plants just need some soil refreshing, or a good dose of organic matter. I find that when the leaves on my citrus tree do similar things a little bit of ironite does the trick. I have also found that adding some worm casting to my potted plants several times a year keeps them much healthier & happier.
March 27th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
I really sympathize with your bay tree problem. I can’t offer a fix but I can relate my own experience with a beloved bay tree so that you may feel better about your care of yours. We went away for three months this winter (Dec-Feb) and had my niece come in and water it and many other plants in our garage. She is over zaelous in watering and we came home to find many plants in standing in water including the bay tree. My point is, you do the best you can and sometimes (like ours) it is very poor and you luck out, other times you don’t. Believe me, I could relate a dozen or more failures in this regard.
May 4th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Bay trees can grow very big, in excess of 40ft high and 30ft wide. This is what they want to be able to do. They seem to be much happier in the ground because they are not so stressed.I don’t think they like being in pots, especially terracotta ones, frying in the sun with their roots getting bigger and bigger as the years pass. I would put them into larger pots and try a position which gets some shade during the day. Try it for a while and see if it helps.