Winter Animal Damage

Nowadays it seems that we can't just finish up our garden chores in the fall and then put the garden to bed for the winter without worry. You know what I mean, we clean up, trim back and mulch our plants to prepare them for winter and just when we think we're all through, we suddenly remember about all those little (and big) critters that will come to visit our gardens in the winter and nibble and gnaw on our precious plants. They think they're so clever as they come to eat while we are away at work or sleeping comfortably in our beds, but we know who they are because we can see their handiwork and they often leave their footprints in the mud or snow. Now is the time to stop and think about what kind of damage they are going to cause this winter and what we can do to help curb it. Just remember, that as long as we continue to move into their territories with new building there isn't much we can do except try to deal with it the best we can by using the various products on the market for animal problems. Most of the products on the market are self-explanatory such as 'deer- rid', 'rabbit- rid', etc., some can be rather pricey and contain a limited amount of product for application before you have to buy it again and repeat its use throughout their feeding season to provide the best results. It's unfortunate, but when you are least interested in going to work in the garden, you will have to, that is if you want to protect your living treasures. Most require repeated applications, whether it is summer or winter. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking these products, the fact is, I use a combination of a pepper spray (for taste) and an application of Milorganite (for smell) to control primarily deer in my customers landscapes with pretty good results. Although we don't have a deer problem in our nursery, we definitely have a rabbit and mole problem with some plants when we get snow.

So what's my point? I guess the first thing we have to determine is, just what is causing damage to our plants. The footprints are generally a sure give-away as to the culprit - deer, rabbits, mice, moles, moose… but sometimes there aren't any footprints and yet there is still plant damage in the form of stem girdling, which often occurs under the cover of heavy snows and isn't noticed until after the snow melts off. For those of you that don't know what stem girdling is or looks like, the bark (generally on the lower stem/trunk portions of the plant) is literally chewed off. If the girdling damage is severe enough, plants will eventually die. Smaller plants are more likely to die while larger plants may recover, but much will depend on the amount of bark that has been chewed off. The greater the damage to the bark, the more loss there is to the food supply being carried to the upper part of the plant. It is the cambium layer just under the surface of the bark that supplies the system of food flow to the rest of the plant. If the bark is cut, no food flows. Rabbits and mice/voles are the biggest culprits for this type of damage and most of the products on the market aren't that effective for this type of damage. There is one product that is effective, that is relatively inexpensive, and that can be used over and over again. That product is good old fashioned chicken wire. There's only one drawback, it's not that attractive. Chicken wire can be purchased in short heights to wrap small plants or just the lower trunk areas, or in taller heights to cover larger plants for deer protection or where higher snows are common. The higher the snow the happier the rabbit is because deep snow is like natures way of providing a step-ladder for the little buggers for better, tender pickins' up higher on the plants. If you suspect the culprits are mice or voles, they tend to burrow through the snow or mulch, down low and you will be better off using 1/4" mesh wire so they can't get through the openings. Which ever type of wire you use, you should put it not only around the plant, but if possible you should put it into the ground several inches just in case something feels like burrowing or pushing under. I know this seems like a bothersome thing to do but it does work and if you think about putting it in, this fall, while the weather's still nice it won't seem like such a miserable chore. It's kind of like, you wish you had hung up your Christmas lights in the warm Indian Summer of October instead of on a cold day in December.

Animals have to eat every day, just like people, we can use these deterrents to protect some prize plants but I don't think anyone should expect to protect everything. Deterrents are meant to do just that 'deter,' not stop completely. Every home owner who is interested in preventing damage from wildlife will have to experiment to find what works best in their area. Some things will work, some will work for awhile, some won't work at all. We all have to find our level of acceptance for living with the wildlife.

I say, "Let them eat cake!"