Marianne's Response

What’s eating my Mountain Laurel?

This Texas Mountain Laurel is 3 years old. It grew 6 inches very fast this early spring and now looks like it is getting eaten up by something. I have been spraying it with Garden Safe: Fungicide 3, but the leaves are dropping off or curling up. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

Posted by alaskarob on April 24, 2016

Marianne's Response

First, stop using the fungicide spray - it could be causing the leaves to curl. The most likely cause of the eaten foliage would be slugs or snails especially as these critters prefer new growth. It sounds like you may have over fed this shrub thus the fast and tender growth making your laurel attractive to pests. Move the plant where it is shaded from the afternoon sun and make sure the pot drains well and does not sit in drainage water - dropping leaves can be a sign of too much water. I predict your Mountain laurel will survive and you won't need to do much - just check the plant at nigth with a flash light to try and catch the nibbling suspect. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti