How to stop my Murraya dying?

[Siver]

My Murraya hedges leaves are turning yellow. I have three hedges and just two of them are having issues so I am assuming it is not over or under watering. I used  Scotts Osmocote 1kg all purpose controlled release fertiliser but it didn’t help and they are getting worse.

can anyone suggest a way to save them please. I am new to gardening and really sad to see my beautiful hedges are dying!

 

[Jason]

Hi @Siver,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. We're pleased to have you join us.

I suspect our gardening experts in the community will need more information in order to assist. Can you please share some photos of your plants? Can you also please tell us where you are based, what kind of soil you have, how much you have been watering, and what the growing conditions are like. 

Please let me know if you need a hand uploading some images.  

The guide How to diagnose a sick plant would also be a helpful starting point.

Thanks,

Jason

[Siver]

Hi Jason, 

thanks for getting back to me. I’m based at newcastle with very a lot of weather fluctuations. We had a wet weather for a week and then a a couple of very hot days when my plant started to get yellow. I never watered my plants and just relied on the rain. In terms of the soil , i recently moved to this place so I have no idea what type is the soil but I can change it if needed, just need some details on what is required. I attached photos of the two sick ones and the healthy one. Really appreciate any help!

 

 

 

 

[Jason]

Thanks for the extra detail and photos @Siver.

Let me see if the wonderful @Noelle can kick off the discussion with her thoughts.

Jason

[Noelle]

Hi @Siver 

The extreme yellowing of the leaves looks to me to be a deficiency of nitrogen. You've said you have used a controlled release fertiliser, which is great, but I can see your plants are quite heavily mulched with bark chips. Your murrayas may be suffering from from what is known as 'nitrogen drawdown'.

When woody mulches like this are used, the microorganisms in the soil try to compost them or break them down and to do this they draw nutrients from the soil. Nitrogen is the main nutrient used, so your plants are deprived of this vital element, hence the yellowing.

When using woody mulches like this, it is vital to ensure that any fertiliser you apply is available directly to the plants' roots. To do this, scrape the mulch back off the soil in a circle around the trunk, perhaps up to a metre radius, depending on the size of the affected shrubs.  Then add the fertiliser to the depleted soil.

Nitrogen drawdown can be prevented by keeping mulch well clear of the soil directly over shrubs' root systems. In my opinion, removing the mulch and feeding the soil around your murrayas will fix the problem over time. It doesn't happen overnight but you should see a gradual improvement over the next few months.

During dry and/or hot periods, give them a good soak at least once a week.

[Siver]

Hi @Noelle 

thanks a-lot for the detailed response. Much appreciated. For the Nitrogen supply do you think I should re apply the fertiliser that I have following the method you described or go with another one? I did a quick search and I found this one, but just wanted to make sure that this is a good one to use.

 

[Noelle]

Hi again @Siver 

I would re-apply the Osmocote All Purposecontrolled release fertiliser over the cleared soil. It contains a balanced diet of all the major, minor and trace elements required for healthy plant growth. Urea is a great rapid greening booster for leafy vegetables, but won't produce the results you're after with your murrayas. The Osmocote is a once-a-year complete fertiliser.