Sometimes the cherry laurel shows brown tips and foliage edges, although the tree sprouts vigorously and is thriving well at first glance. In most cases, this damage has a non-parasitic cause that you can easily treat yourself.
What causes brown leaf edges on cherry laurel?
Cherry laurel can develop brown leaf edges due to nutrient deficiency or excess, unsuitable soil pH, feeding damage by the black weevil or shotgun disease. A soil test and check for pests helps to identify the exact cause and take appropriate measures.
Lack of nutrients or oversupply leads to leaf damage
Too much or too little of certain nutrients often causes leaf discoloration, deformation of the foliage or stunted growth of individual leaves. If the foliage browns from the edge and eventually falls off, in many cases it has been fertilized too heavily.
The pH value of the soil also influences the growth of cherry laurel. If this value is in the highly acidic or basic range, the cherry laurel reacts with brown edges on the foliage. To rule out this cause, you should have a soil test carried out.
Eating damage caused by the black weevil
If you can rule out a care error, you should search the bushes with a flashlight after dark. The brown edges and tips of the leaves could be damage caused by the black weevil, whose favorite food is woody plants with somewhat coarser foliage. What is dangerous for the laurel cherry is not the beetles themselves but the larvae that live in the soil, which damage the roots and thereby massively weaken the plant.
The shotgun disease
Although shotgun disease usually shows up in the early stages as black dots on the leaves, you should think of this fungal disease if you see brown tips and edges. If you look closely, you will find spot-like bright spots on the foliage next to the brown edges of the leaves, which turn reddish-brown in the later stages and are ultimately rejected by the plant.
Tips & Tricks
If the leaves turn brown from the edge inwards, a potassium deficiency could be to blame. In this case, fertilize the cherry laurel with comfrey manure, seasoned manure or wood ash, as all of these fertilizers contain a lot of potassium.
