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A problem with bunnies and mice
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Posted by Pattio2 z4b - ON (My Page) on Mon, Apr 18, 05 at 18:08
I could cry. The snow finally melted in by back garden last week and - behold- mice and rabbits had eaten all the bark off my 4 yr. old Oakleaf Hydrangea, most of the bark off my 4 yr. old Alleghany Wayfaring Tree and have eaten my dwarf Weigela (planted last summer) right to the ground.
Is there any hope of them surviving?
How could I have prevented this (for future reference)?
This has never happened in my yard before. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: A problem with bunnies and mice
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You might trying posting on the Shrubs and/or tree forums. I wish you luck for your plants to survive.
You could try wrapping the trunks and caging the plants ( for future protection). Rodents multiply like crazy. We eliminate them. They ceased to be cute a looooong time ago !! |
RE: A problem with bunnies and mice
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| Pattio2, I feel for ya. I really do. I live out in "the country" and have learned to expect rodent damage every winter UNLESS I protect my young shrubs and small trees with chicken wire or hardware cloth fences. Chicken wire/h. cloth is relatively cheap (no pun intended) compared to the cost of replacing dead/damaged shrubs and trees. Just be sure you make the fences at least 2 feet tall, cuz if you don't the bunnies/mice/voles will sit on top of the packed snow and munch on your plants over the top of the fence. There is one drawback: your yard will look like the "state pen", as mine does. |
RE: A problem with bunnies and mice
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| I am kind of used to the "Plant Prison" look of protected shrubs, lots of small beds with 30" fence edges. We have a couple busy dogs, so it is for their own protection. The varmints seemed to just go after everything this year, stuff they had never looked at before! My dappled willow had gnaw marks on the backside, before I found them and fenced it. I have lost two small pine trees and a juniper. I was just shocked about them, totally girdled, never bothered before. Dogs are good about chasing things in daylight, but the bunnies dance all night too, wretched beasts. I hope my Owl got a bunch of them all winter. Their growth cycle is very high now, should go into decline pretty soon, changes about every 5-8 years. The individual cages are about the only thing you can do. |
RE: A problem with bunnies and mice
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- Posted by Chills 6b (??) Mi (My Page) on
Thu, Apr 21, 05 at 21:39
| I am not sure if it is a coincidence or not, but I had massive damage on my blueberries 2 years ago (3 foot plants down to 2-3 inches!) I planted Fritalaria (those smelly crown imperials) among the blueberries and this past winter, almost no damage at all. (there was still damage on my wife's roses this winter, but when she found out how much the fritalaria bulbs are, she balked at getting enough to protect her roses (besides they bounce back quickly with the bunny pellets as fertilizer) ~Chills |
RE: A problem with bunnies and mice
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| Liquid Fence works really well to keep away rabbits. They have Liquid Fence Plus that not only keeps rabbits away but also fertilizes your plants. The smell is bad at first (garlic and eggs) but it doesn't linger (at least to the human nose). Our local news WDIV did a segment on it (Ruth to the Rescue) and she found that it really does work. |
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