Why Are There Holes in My Laurel Leaves?

If it looks like something is eating Swiss cheese style holes in your cherry laurel or Portugal laurel hedge, it’s a harmless condition called Laurel Shot Hole.

It may seem like a mysterious insect has been eating your leaves, but Shot Hole is caused by a couple of different fungi, Stigmina and Eupropolella, or Pseudomonas syringaebacteria.

Sometimes it’s also a case of powdery mildew, in which case you will also see the tell-tale grey-white mould, especially on the underside of the leaves.

Do not be concerned.
These mild fungal or bacterial pathogens almost never pose a real problem to otherwise healthy plants, which will quickly grow fresh leaves to replace the damaged ones.

What Causes Laurel Shot Hole?

Shot hole flares up damp and cloudy weather, and is worse in shady places with low air flow.

Large concentrations of laurel, like in a hedge, are more prone to attack.

When there is more sunlight & dry air, and the issue should not return (until the humid weather does!).

Laurel Shot Hole disease treatment

Because shot hole is mainly caused by weather conditions that allow the bacteria and fungi to thrive for a short period, the RHS does not recommend using costly and toxic fungicides.

They won’t do anything to bacterial shot hole anyway, and “there is no specific information available on the efficacy of any home garden fungicide against the fungal leaf spot diseases of laurel.”

Shot hole often appears on the laurels we grow on our nursery. We don’t use any fungicides because this is a very minor condition that appears everywhere: you will never get rid of it.

Organic Prevention of Laurel Shot Hole

1. Sweep up fallen Laurel leaves regularly.
2. Prune out dead and ingrowing branches.
3. Improve air circulation around the plants, perhaps by removing a piece of nearby fence, or cutting back other plants cut back.
4. Mulch around the plants in Spring
5. When there is an attack, wait for dry weather and lightly trim the hedge.