Sometimes garden owners are horrified to discover that the cherry laurel has unsightly reddish-brown spots on many leaves. It doesn't always have to be the dreaded shotgun disease. Even after severe cold frosts, the laurel cherry often has leaf damage
Brown spots from cold damage
Not all laurel cherry species are completely frost hardy and survive severe winters unscathed. They suffer from frostbite during the icy winter months, which often only becomes apparent when they sprout in spring. The leaves become brown-spotted, dry, and eventually fall off.
remedy
The laurel cherry tolerates pruning well and willingly sprout even from perennial wood. However, wait with the pruning until you can estimate how far the shrubs have frozen back. You can recognize the frost damage by the fact that the affected branches do not sprout further or show a grey-brown color below the bark. Shorten the branches down to the healthy wood.
Brown leaf spot caused by leaf spot fungi
In the case of a fungal infestation, circular, brown spots appear on the upper side of the leaf. As a result, the leaf tissue thins out and is finally shed by the laurel cherry. Due to the remaining holes, the cherry laurel looks like it was shot at with a shotgun. Because of this appearance, leaf spot disease is also known as shotgun disease.
preventive measures
- Regular pruning to allow leaves to dry faster.
- Collect fallen leaves if there is a suspicion of shotgun fire.
- Cut off affected leaves consistently.
- Dispose of cut and collected waste in the household waste, as the fungal spores survive in the compost.
control of the fungus
If only a few leaves show the typical brown spots, it is sufficient to cut them off and dispose of them. In many cases, this can prevent the fungal disease from spreading. If the plant is more severely infested, you can obtain highly effective fungicides from the trade with which you can successfully combat shotgun disease.
tips and tricks
On the underside of the laurel cherry leaves are small brown dots from which the plant secretes sweet nectar. These natural leaf spots can easily be mistaken for those caused by fungi.