The Bay Tree is usually a hardy plant, but not so yours it seems. You say in
your message that it has been outside your front door, is it sheltered there
or open to cold draughts? Bay trees *do not* like draughts, especially cold
ones which will often cause the leaves to discolour and/or eventually kill
them. Give your tree the 'thumb nail test'. Scratch away some of the branch
bark with your nail, if the under lying wood is green, then your tree is
still alive. Make sure that you have it in the correct compost mix for pot
or tub growing. Two parts loam, one part coarse sand and one part
leaf-mould. John Innes No.3 compost is fine if you can't mix your own. Don't
forget to trim your tree to shape at least twice during the summer and pull
away any suckers that appear from the base. Keep it sheltered and warm and
it might pull through and start growing new leaves.

Good luck,
Bill Brewer
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"Jo Ling" wrote in a message:

We bought a bay tree a couple of years ago, which sits in a pot outside
our
front door. We've been doing all the right things to it, we think:
protecting it from frost, making sure it's not too dry, re-potting when
necessary ...
And then quite suddenly a few weeks ago, all the leaves went grey and dry.
If you rub the tree, the leaves just break off. It looks a sight, I can
tell you.
What has happened to it? Is it beyond redemption? Does anyone have any
ideas as to what we can do to make it better?