Click below to listen to my 2 min Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Rabbits and your shrubs
Ugh, they really nailed my dwarf Burning Bush… it’s now REALLY a dwarf.
It’s always a good idea to monitor your shrubs and newly planted trees this time of year to see if there’s been bunny, vole or deer damage!
This year, 2023, is starting with plenty of snowpack for many of us, including me. I’ve seen those rascally rabbits making a beeline for under my porch when I approach. Next year I gotta do something to prevent that!
They’ve also been nibbling at my cotoneaster again this year. The snow is higher so they’re just nibbling higher up.
The University of Iowa has great information on securing your vulnerable shrubs from rabbits. Wrapping your shrubs with hardware cloth is a great idea. The suggestion is to surround your shrub at about 3 ft tall.
If you wrapped newly planted trees with hardware cloth, some plastic, or put chicken wire around your shrubs, then good for you, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about!
I can instruct YOU to do it, but have a hard time getting it done myself!
As much as the rabbits irritate me, they do leave behind something of value, and from what I can tell, plenty of it this year.
The rabbits’ waste, those little brown pellets, actually make great fertilizer. They decompose quickly and are richer in nutrients than chicken manure! They carry no contaminants so you can freely let the bunnies do their business around your plants.
Looking up shrubs that are rabbit resistant I noticed cotoneaster… apparently my neighborhood bunnies didn’t get the memo! However, there are other shrubs that are less tasty to them including barberry. I can understand that, those things fight back with thorns. Nannyberry viburnum, a large tough native is a great choice for those with space. It’s also very attractive to birds!
