DH refuses to admit our bay tree is dead. Please see pic. I'm right aren't I?

[TheBayTreeMurder]

We've had it about 6 years and it's done really well until about 2 years ago.

The leaves were deep glossy green but now they're pale, with chunks out of them (think we got a pest - I did try and spray and treat!) - it's also quite sparse and some leaves are brown

Husband won't accept it's dead, says it's fine.

I think it's dead and we should Chuck it

Who's right?

Oh and chunks out of the edges of leaves is likely to be vine weevil, which pot plants are prone to because birds and other predators can't get into the pot soil to eat the larvae.

I don’t know how you can look at that plant and come to the conclusion that it’s “dead”. That’s a bit dramatic. It’s clearly alive - surviving but not thriving. You can save it.

Just to add another idea, might you also be over watering it?

Plant it in the ground and it'll be fine.

Our Bay tree - which was here when we moved in 5 years ago - now looks like this. First time it has had any brown leaves. Do I need to feed it? If so - how do I go about that? - sorry if that's a stupid question....but any more than a drop of baby bio in the water for plant pots is above my knowledge.

It's not dead just remove the prowl leaves and feed it

It needs feeding!

Not dead.
Unhappy, but alive. Needs TLC.

Is it in a pot? If so it might be worth removing it from the pot, pruning the roots and refreshing the soil. That'll keep it fed for 6 weeks or so. After that I tend to alternate liquid seaweed with tomato feed for most of my plants. The tree could probably benefit from a good prune back too.

Definitely not dead

Those circles look like leaf cutter bees - once cut, the leaves won't regrow.

If you don't like it any more, which I think sounds like the real problem, offer it on gumtree. It'll be gone in an hour!

It's fine, it's just short of (I think it is, but don't quote me) nitrogen - just needs the right feed, and preferably a re-pot or at least scrape as much soil off the top as you can and replace.

Danelions are actually really good for the soil and it provide the other plants with nutrients. They appear where the soil is, for example, too acidic and they fix the balance and they draw all the nutrients from the bottom of the soil up to the top so that the plants can absorb it. Dandelions are the best thing you can have growing in your garden if you want healthy plants and grass.

@MeinKraft thank you. It's in the ground. I will try tomato food.

As an emergency thing to hand right now, 10% urine 90% water will start work on it right away. Then add coffee ground over the soil. Source a decent compost, potash and slow release feed and repot with fresh.

Your's looks good. This is the one that I'm trying to bring back to life . Fed it over winter and took the brown leaves off. Surprised to see this morning that it had new buds on one side.

Check for scale also, on the underside of the leaves