Bay tree help!

[Jux]

My v small, 3 yr old bay tree is not looking happy. Leaves are yellowing and spotted. Will up load pic, but on other device. Shd be next post.

Ours have really struggling after last years hot summer and then a cold winter. We’re getting new growth now so it might just need time to recover.

Pic

Is it doing this?

Some of the leaves have notches out of the edges. This might mean vine weevils. You can buy biological controls for them, but if they are left untreated, they can kill a plant. The grubs eat the roots, which is where the real damage happens.

Probably needs repotting into new soil - the yellowing leaves look like nutrient deficiency. But they’re tough things - I have some “insurance” cuttings I took years ago languishing on the back of my “I don’t know what to do with them “ shelf which look much worse than that, but I palmed off one to DS last year and it looks much better now it’s in the soil.

It needs a much bigger pot, John Innes compost and good drainage.
this is mine in the garden after 24 years 😃

Oops!

That's vine weevil damage round the edges, where it looks like they've been cut with pinking shears. The weevils munch notches in the leaves, their grubs eat roots.

You need to take it out of the pot, discard as much compost from around the roots as you can, and check for white grubs in the soil. Then replant in fresh compost. Don't feed it until you see strong new growth.

Don't have anything more helpful to add but feeling relieved that I'm not the only one with a 'don't know what to do with it' shelf.

That's all incredibly helpful, thank you all so so much. I feel awful, it was a gift, and the guy who gave it to me is coming to stay in a couple of days.

I can't do the repotting thing yet as I'm simply not strong enough to get it out of the pot. And, of course, I haven't got a larger one. That 2 or maybe 3 very large pots I need, and I know dd needs a couple too. Hope I find somewhere which has massive sales on!

Should I try to get it out of the pot and sort out the roots even if I have nothing to put it in, so leaving it bare? For how long?

BTW,I don't want a massive tree. I think he gave me one which is supposed to stay in a pot.

Your tree is FABULOUS!!! Our garden's simply not big enough for another tree, though I'd happily sacrifice the leaky pond since all the frogs went.

You could try some quick release fertiliser

The friend who gave it to me, is here now. I apologised that it was doing so badly and I believed it was vine weevils. He said yes it was, and to drown them. What you do, what they do at his garden centre, is put the whole plant, pot and all, in a big bin of water, so it's completely submerged. So that's what I'm doing. Saves having to pick grubs off roots!

The plastic dustbin we have isn't quite tall enough, but I hope I'll be able to see the undrowned adults and remove them. Ugly things aren't they?

If the drowning doesn't work I'm pretty certain that there is a biological control for vine weevils.