Schip Laurel

Question: Hi, a nursery planted two Schip Laurels about 3weeks ago,  with good amended soil and fertilizer ( bumper crop) on the west-southwest side of my house. The location gets three to four hours of direct afternoon sun daily. One laurel shows no problem but the  other (4 feet away) has yellow-tipped leaves which seem to be very slowly spreading to more leaves.  I was advised by the nursery where i purchased them to water them for 15 minutes with a hose at just a trickle, every 5 days until October which i have been doing. Is the yellowing leaf tips a sign of more problems to come? What do you advise? Thank you.

responder: Answered by the Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC), University of Maryland Extension. For timely gardening information and tips, subscribe to our Maryland Grows blog and quarterly newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Replied April 26, 2023, 1:17 PM EDT
response: The browning leaf tips in this case appear to be leftover winterburn, a typical and relatively minor (from a plant health perspective) issue common to a wide variety of evergreen shrubs. It occurs when roots cannot resupply the leaves with as much moisture as they are losing to evaporation, often during windy, sunny, dry winter weather, or when the soil surface is frozen (and thus the water inaccessible to roots) while milder air temperatures continue to dry out leaves. This past winter, due to several instances of mild weather followed closely by drastically falling temperatures, caused winterburn on many landscape plants, either at the nursery itself or in home gardens.  The degree of leaf damage we see is minor and isn't of concern. Evergreens like cherrylaurel (of which Skip Laurel is one variety) will shed some of their oldest leaves in spring, so if you see some of the older (inner, lower) leaves yellowing and falling, this is normal. Damaged leaves sometimes also get shed around this time since it's just prior to the emergence of new growth. A bit of delayed leaf drop due to the stresses of transplanting is also typical and not worrisome if not too extensive.  The watering advice is sound in the sense that new plantings should be monitored regularly their first full year in the ground, though we disagree with the frequency of watering in this case. Feeling the soil is always the best way to judge when watering may be needed, rather than automatically assuming daily irrigation is beneficial. We suggest feeling the soil six inches deep next to the shrub's root zone and watering well only when it's becoming somewhat dry to the touch at that depth. If damp to the touch when probed to that depth, the roots should have sufficient moisture. Adding too much water too often can "drown" roots because the soil saturation prevents them from getting enough oxygen to remain healthy; at that point, opportunistic infections can take over and this type of root rot is not treatable. We see no indications this is an issue with your plant so far, but it's something to keep in mind going forward.  While not critically important in the sense of needing remediation now, for the future, new plantings (and even established shrubs) usually do not need fertilization. There isn't any scientific data we have encountered that supports the use of root-stimulating nutrient additives upon planting, and it's usually easier to over-fertilize than under-fertilize since rarely are our soils deficient in enough key nutrients to cause problems. When curious about soil nutrient content before making any additions, a laboratory soil test is the best approach; we can help interpret results if desired, but the linked page also discusses this. Home test kits/probes are not as reliably accurate or detailed as lab analyses.  For general long-term plant health, make sure the mulch isn't touching the trunk (stem bases) and the overall layer of mulch is around three inches thick or less. Hopefully upon installation the root balls were loosened by either disentangling any matted or circling roots (if in a container) or at least any burlap and twine/wire wrapped around the root ball (if not from a container) was removed so it doesn't interfere with establishment. Some landscape installers are conscientious of this, but not all are well-trained.  For now, just make sure the plants are watered on as as-needed basis and no action needs to be taken regarding the small amount of leaf damage.  Miri

responder: The Question Asker Replied April 26, 2023, 1:34 PM EDT
response: Thank you again so much. This service is so helpful!Sent from my iPhone On Apr 26, 2023, at 1:17 PM, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:﻿

responder: Answered by the Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC), University of Maryland Extension. For timely gardening information and tips, subscribe to our Maryland Grows blog and quarterly newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Replied April 26, 2023, 3:49 PM EDT
response: You're welcome!