Why are my trees dying?

Glowing

Complete gardener dunce here so beware!

I have 2 apple, one pear tree, 2 rose bushes and a lavender plant all in their own planters in my garden.

The apple trees have been growing well for the last 2 years or so and have a small crop of apples.

However in the last few weeks, all the leaves of ALL the above trees/plants have started to blacken and all look like they're on their last legs. Seems to have happened so quickly. I presume this is a disease of some sort?

Can any one help? Any way of saving these? Thanks

lottpaul

Your problem is probably black spot -- a severe case. It's a disease of wet and warmth so the "summer" we just had suited it perfectly.
You can control it by spraying with fungicide -- any garden centre will have it. At this time of the year it might be worth a good spraying although it won't improve things too much. The most important thing is to remove all of the diseased leaves and fruit and destroy them. Take leaves from the ground etc and then next year watch carefully and spray immediately at the first sign of trouble.

You say they are in planters? Pots? Your fruit trees would prefer to be in the ground but if thats not a possibility make sure they never dry out - even in wet summers it's amazing how often a potted tree will need watering.

Your lavender doesnt need spraying -- it may just be suffering from the wet weather. It likes to be in a free draining soil and wont mind drying out in between waterings.

Glowing

Thanks Lottpaul for that. So is this a disease which spreads across the plants? If left untreated, does it usually die out over winter? I've noticed some of the leaves in the garden hedge are spotty as well - I might have an epidemic on my hands!

lottpaul

Yes - it will appear to die out over the winter - it needs heat etc but the spores that cause it linger on in infected leaves and fruit and it will come back next year. It can spread to other shrubs but this year has been particularly bad for it.

That's why it is so important to gather up as many of the diseased leaves as possible and destroy them.

You may have trees and roses that are prone to black spot and they will need regular spraying, but it will only take you a few minutes.

The garden hedge may have it too but it could also just be the damp weather.