As we toil out from this very snow-covered winter , we ’re seeing portion of photos ofrabbit damageto trees and shrubs . Whether yield Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , evergreen or shrubs , the bunny have been thirsty this wintertime and they ’ve been stripping the barque as high as our very marvellous blow drifts .
“ This winter has been vicious on plant with rabbit scathe , ” said Travis McDonald , attest tree surgeon withDavey Tree Expert Co.in Eden Prairie , who we contact about what to do about rabbit legal injury . “ I have n’t seen it this bad in 10 years . ”
The damage is pestilent when rabbit “ girdle ” a tree all the fashion around ( see photos in this post ) . Yikes ! Girdling befall when the flow of nutrient and water to the tree is disrupt due to damage or removal of Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree bark and the bast and cambian layers under the bark . All of the food that keep a tree goodly flow just under the barque in those layer . ( This is the light - colored wood you see after the barque is removed . )
If a tree is improperly institute , it can be girdled by its own roots , which wrap up around the luggage compartment of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree at its base or just underground and essentially choke it . Rabbit damage rips the protective bark off the tree .
Like cervid , hungry rabbits will eat a assortment of plants , but among their favourite arecrabapples , plum , cherries and other yield tree , maples , yew , burning George Walker Bush , serviceberries and arborvitae as well as viburnums , hydrangeas and smokebush . A sure foretoken that the problem with your tree or shrub is rabbit is the presence of pea plant - sized rabbit turd near the plant .
Can It Be Saved ?
permit ’s start with bush . Shrubs grow from the base and have multiple outgrowth . With many shrubs — cornel , genus Viburnum , ninebark — you could cut the plant down to estimable barque near the root and let it re - arise from there . You will want to do some pruning as it grows and it may take a couple of years , but your shrub will grow back . Sometimes it even flowers in the first year after severe pruning .
Trees are another affair . A Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree that is girdled all the way around will not hold up long - term , McDonald say . It might flick out this twelvemonth but “ any stress and that tree will break . ” If a tree has in - tact barque around 25 percent or more of its trunk , it can pull round , he said .
To give a damage tree the good chance for retrieval , water it consistently and fully throughout the time of year and into fall . Appropriate fertilizer for the type of tree you have is also a good idea , McDonald said . If the tree is large or precious to you and is not 100 percent girdle , contact an arborist about your options . McDonald sometimes recommends a bole program of potassium polyphosphite , which stimulates the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ’s innate healing reaction and helps close injury quick .
Preventative Measures
forestall rabbit damage is the best way to check respectable tree and shrubs in your yard and garden . Rabbits do n’t like the texture of burlap , so many tree possessor will enwrap the trunks of their trees with gunny in the fall . you may also debate around the tree proboscis or shrub with poulet wire to warn chewing . Be sure to supply the protections above the high likely snow course !
There are nebulizer for foliage that can be applied to discourage rabbit and deer mastication as well , but most spray uncommitted to householder wear off within a couple of calendar week .
General tree wellness going into winter is also crucial . “ The biggest thing in the winter months is to give trees a rich watering in fall , ” McDonald state .
coney numbers are a constituent in how many plant are damaged . A lack of rude predators in some areas has increased population . Fencingaround your entire property and unrecorded housing are among the options for deal with too many coney .
For more on wrong to shrubs and fruit Tree and options to save the plant , gibe outthis video .
Mary Lahr Schieris a Minnesota - based garden writer .
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