How to maintain Murraya plants and stop leaves turning yellow?

[aruna_k]

My murraya plants are getting yellow leaves.  Not able to identify if it's due to over watering or lack of watering.  I also notice that grass have grown around murraya plant.  Can that cause the murraya to go yellow?  Should I be adding any fertilizer? Should I be covering it with mulch?  

[Jason]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @aruna_k. It's great to have you join us and I trust you'll get loads of help and inspiration for all your projects around the house and garden from our wonderful members.

The Bunnings team has shared a comprehensive guide to planting, growing and pruning murraya. I hope you find it useful.

In order to diagnose the issue with your leaves turning yellow, could you please share some photos of your plant and tell us a little more about its growing conditions such as where you are based, what type of soil you have and how much the plant has been watered and/or fed.

We also have a helpful guide How to diagnose a sick plant by experienced member @Noelle that you might find helpful.

Thanks, we look forward to assisting further.

Jason

[EricL]

Hello @aruna_k 

Thank you for sharing your question about your Murraya plant. If you can please provide us with a bit of history and what's been happening around your plant. Has your neighbour been spraying insecticide lately? Are the plants around the Murraya showing signs of stress or sickness? Any extra information you can share with us will help us diagnose what could possibly be affecting your plant.

Eric

[aruna_k]

 this one has all of the sudden started turning yellow. 

 this is a smaller plant but again the leaves are turning yellow.  The dried plant that you see to its left has already dried. 

[aruna_k]

I am new to this group.  I have added two photos now.  

We recently moved to our house around 6 months back.  Our house is in beaumont hills.  We have not been frequently watering the plants until this month with warmer weather commencing.  We have also not applied any fertilizer or organic compost as of now as we don't know what to apply and when and how much.  Most of our murraya face direct sun light.  Except few in the backyard which are also turning yellow slowly.  

[aruna_k]

Sharing some images of murraya from my backyard.  These bushes don't receive much sunlight. 

 

[MitchellMc]

Hi @aruna_k,

I'd recommend you give the plants a good fertilising with Scotts Osmocote 9kg All Purpose Landscape Controlled Release Fertiliser. You might like to add a layer of compost around the plant and 1/2 a bag of cow manure between them. You can then spread mulch around there base to help retain moisture. Now would be a great time to apply the fertiliser, compost and mulch.

You'll find that any leaves that don't receive at least some sunlight throughout the day will turn yellow and fall off. This is a preservation technique of the plant that ensures it's not sustaining leaves that are providing no benefit.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[aruna_k]

Thanks Michelle, how much of the 9kg fertilizer should I apply into one plant?  I have around 15 to 20 big murraya plants around my house.  10 of them quite big ones. 

How much compost should I put around one plant? 

[MitchellMc]

For exact usage rates, apply the fertiliser as per the guidelines on the packaging @aruna_k or broadcast over beds using 50-80g/m2. The one 9kg bucket will be more than enough for all your plants.

A 50mm layer of compost around each plant would be a good start. So, you might use 1/2-3/4 of a bag per plant.

Mitchell

[aruna_k]

Thank you so much Mitchell. Sorry I spelled your name wrong earlier.