Bay Leaves Browning and Yellowing

Q. I have several bay leaf bushes but one appears to be dying.  What can I do, if anything, to nurse it back to health?

A. Two things are going to be a problem for you, maybe three. First, judging from your picture, it is in rock mulch. This plant will not handle a rock mulch environment very well. If it is going to work for you in rock then it should be in an eastern exposure where the wall would be to its west.

Picture will not insert properly in Blogspot. Bay Leaf of reader.

            If your plant is in this environment then it might be getting hammered by being fully exposed to the southern sun as well. It will do much better with some protection from that hot, blazing sun in the summer. That is why you are seeing the leaves with brown tips and edges.

            Secondly is the yellow color developing on the new leaves, leaves at the ends of the branches. Most likely this is a nutrient deficiency due to the poor nutrient capacity of that desert soil. Rock mulch adds nothing to a desert soil. It needs a more fertile soil and should not be planted like it is growing in the middle of a desert somewhere.

            Thirdly, you might have trouble keeping it through the winters here. It is not terribly tolerant of real low winter temperatures. If it is in the open and can get hit by cold winter winds then it may freeze back yearly or every few years when we hit a good cold spell.

            I would move it to a new location this fall, about mid-September to October. Move it somewhere where the sun won’t hammer it after noon or two PM. Heavily compost the soil when you plant it. Use organic mulch around it, not rock mulch. Put it somewhere the plant will be protected from freezing winter winds. Hope this helps.