Why has my Laurel bush of 14yrs, become suddenly covered in a white powder and curled up leaves?
By Greenshire
United Kingdom 
The bush is under our bay window facing South- East. No problems previously but last couple of years have noticed ants crawling over the bush and this year the Laurel has become covered in a white powder with the leaves curling up and bumpy in appearence. Any ideas?
27 Jul, 2009
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You have more than one thing going on here. The ants will have been on the plant because it was infested with aphids, usually blackfly, which the ants sort of "herd" and take care of because they harvest the honeydew from the aphids. It now also sounds like you've got a bad case of mildew, a fungal infection, at the same time. Suggest you go and buy some Roseclear3 and a sprayer, mix it up according to instructions (think its double dose for existing fungal infections, but check the bottle) and spray - this will also treat for the aphids as its a combined, systemic treatment. give the plant a shot of Miracle Gro general purpose or phostrogen watered on at the base of the plant where the roots are to give it a feed to help it recover.
27 Jul, 2009