A few yellow leaves on a laurel hedge are nothing to worry about. Laurel is evergreen, but each leaf only lasts a few years, and the oldest ones turn yellow and drop. You notice it most in late spring, when the hedge is pushing out new growth and shedding old leaves at the same time.
It’s a different story when the yellowing is spread right through the hedge, when it shows up on the new leaves, or when whole sections start to thin and die. Then something is wrong, and in our experience the cause is nearly always at the roots rather than the leaves.
Start by looking at where the yellow is
Where the yellow leaves are on the plant tells you more than anything else. Use this as a first check, then read the section that matches.
| What you see | Most likely cause |
|---|---|
| Old leaves inside and low down, new growth green and glossy | Normal leaf drop |
| Yellowing then browning on a new hedge in clay after a wet spell | Waterlogged roots |
| Yellow leaves dropping from a new hedge in a dry summer | Drought |
| The whole hedge paler than it should be | Shortage of nutrients |
| Newest leaves yellow with green veins, on chalky soil | Chlorosis |
| Yellow spots that turn brown and fall out as holes | Shothole |
| Yellow-brown leaves on the exposed side after winter | Cold or wind scorch |
Normal leaf drop
If the yellow leaves are deep inside the hedge, the outside is green and you can see fresh shoots, you’re looking at old leaves being replaced. It’s heaviest in May and June. Rake them up if they bother you, but the hedge doesn’t need any help.
Waterlogged soil
We see this more than any other cause, especially on new hedges planted in heavy clay. Laurel hates sitting in wet ground. The roots run short of air and start to die, and the leaves go yellow, then brown, often starting at the bottom of the hedge or in one low patch.
To check, dig a hole about 30cm deep near the hedge after a spell of rain. If there’s still water standing in it a day later, drainage is your problem.
- Stop watering. It sounds obvious, but a yellowing hedge often gets more water, which makes this worse.
- Look for gutters, downpipes or a patio that empties onto the hedge line, and send that water somewhere else.
- Keep the soil around the roots from being walked on or driven over, which squeezes the air out.
- For a new planting in clay, improve a wide strip rather than individual holes. A single hole dug into clay fills with water like a sump. Raising the planting line slightly also helps.
Badly waterlogged ground may need a proper land drain, and that’s a job worth getting a landscaper to look at.
Drought, especially in the first two years
A new hedge hasn’t had time to spread its roots, so a dry spring or a hot summer can catch it out. The leaves yellow, curl and drop, usually from the inside first.
Water deeply once or twice a week in dry weather through the first summer, and the second if it’s a dry one. A good soak that reaches the roots does far more than a quick sprinkle every evening. A soaker hose laid along the base makes this easy. Established laurel copes with dry weather well, but a hedge planted against a wall or under trees can still go short.
Hungry plants
If the whole hedge looks a washed-out yellow-green, starting with the older leaves, it’s probably short of nitrogen. It’s common on light, sandy soil, after a very wet winter has washed nutrients through, or simply on a hedge that hasn’t been fed in years.
Scatter a general fertiliser such as Growmore or blood, fish and bone along both sides of the hedge in March or April, water it in, then mulch with compost or bark. You should see greener new growth within a couple of months.
Chlorosis on chalky soil
When the newest leaves are yellow but the veins stay green, the plant can’t take up enough iron or manganese. Cherry laurel is prone to this on shallow, chalky soil. A sequestered iron feed and plenty of organic mulch will help, but it’s an ongoing fight. If you’re planting on chalk, Portuguese laurel is the better choice, as it’s much happier there.
Transplant shock
Newly planted laurel, and rootballed or bare-root plants in particular, often yellow and drop some leaves in their first season. As long as the stems stay green and the buds are plump, keep the watering steady and give it time. Don’t try to fix it with heavy feeding.
Cold and wind scorch
After a hard winter or a run of cold, drying easterly winds, the leaves on the exposed side can turn yellow-bronze and drop. It looks dramatic, but laurel usually reshoots from the same stems in spring. Wait until late May, when you can see what’s alive, then cut out anything still bare.
Spots, holes and leaf disease
Yellow spots that turn brown and then fall out, leaving small round holes, are shothole. It’s common on cherry laurel in wet springs, and it’s covered in our guide to holes in laurel leaves.
When it’s something more serious
Be more concerned if large sections of an established hedge die in one season, the bark at the base is splitting or peeling, or you find white, fan-shaped fungal growth under the bark near ground level. Clumps of honey-coloured toadstools around the base in autumn point the same way. These are signs of honey fungus, which has no cure. Affected plants and as much root as possible need to come out.
Also think about anything that’s changed nearby: a new path or wall, trenching for cables, or weedkiller or lawn feed used close to the roots. If you can’t find a cause, it’s worth asking a qualified arborist or a horticulturist to take a look before you lose more of the hedge.
For year-round care, see our laurel hedge care guide.
