Hello out there, I was hoping that someone could offer me some advice. I have a standard bay tree which was planted in a large terracotta pot for several years where it thrived and started to sprout new growth from the trunk. I retained the new growth, and the tree continue to thrive for 3 years, when I noticed a marked decline in health. It had been having some minor difficulty with scale (which I ultimately solved), and the tree seemed rather pot-bound. As it was already in a massive pot, I decided to tranfer it into the herb bed, where it has unfortunately gone downhill ever since. The soil there is sandy and light, and it is moderately sheltered, but fairly close to the ocean. Should I cross my fingers and leave it there (it's been in that location for 1 year now), or should I dig it up and repot it into terracotta again ? I've tried trimming and fertilizing it (seaweed spray, fish fertilizer, etc ... but not all at once !) and nothing has made any difference at all. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated - my husband is an Italian chef, and he's starting to get bitter because the bay isn't thriving ! Thanks, Gail.

Gail:You live on Vancouver Island right? (sandy soil and ocean spray...VBS) Sounds to me like it is not getting enough water. If your soil is silty then add some peat or compost to the soil. This will retain some moisture and should help to solve the problem. Ocean spray in large does is not really all that good for bay laurels so I would either try to protect it or move it to another location.

Thanks for the ideas, Arne ! I wasn't entirely sure about the effect of salt spray on the bay, but we do get plastered in the winter with salt-ladened north winds. I will take your suggestion and move the tree back into a terracotta pot where I can offer it more protection on the less salty side of the house. Many thanks ! Gail (from the east coast of Van. Isle !)

Hi I have a Bay Tree and have amajor problem with scale. I am curious as to how you managed to get rid of it