How To Protect Trees And Shrubs From Rodents And Hares?

Table of contents:

How To Protect Trees And Shrubs From Rodents And Hares?
How To Protect Trees And Shrubs From Rodents And Hares?

Video: How To Protect Trees And Shrubs From Rodents And Hares?

Video: How To Protect Trees And Shrubs From Rodents And Hares?
Video: Tree Guards - 3 types of tree protection from rodents 2024, March
Anonim

Woody plants and shrubs can not only freeze out in extreme winter, suffer from provocative thaws in the cold period and return frosts in spring or even early summer, but also from rodents, which are mice and hares in gardens and berry fields. By their nature, these creatures are fearful and you will be very surprised if you notice a hare in your garden in the summer. More often you can see a mouse, but, often, in the late afternoon, when it literally merges with the soil. At normal times, they try to stay away from a person's home.

Rodent-damaged garden shrub
Rodent-damaged garden shrub

Content:

  • Why are rodents harmful?
  • Protections effective against mice
  • Protecting the garden from hares
  • If the tree is already damaged

Why are rodents harmful?

From rodents, the harm to garden crops is colossal: if a bush, even heavily damaged by rodents, can still recover from the roots, then the tree will either have to be restored by grafting or putty, or it will be completely lost. After all, a tree, in fact, consists of two parts - a scion and a rootstock. On the scion on which the variety is grafted, the rodents gnaw the bark in a ring and only the stock remains alive, that is, a savage who will not give you anything worthwhile (I mean the harvest of varietal fruits).

Young plants are often never restored, since the bites can also be very deep. Hares are able to gnaw through rather thick branches literally in half, and mice can gnaw parts of the bark with a ring.

Naturally, after such damage, there can be no question of any normal sap flow, it will be forever disrupted. Therefore, such troubles need to be prevented, and gardeners, in order to ward off mice and hares from their trees and shrubs, over the years of their trial and error, have come up with many interesting ways that can truly protect the winter garden.

Protections effective against mice

In total, there are two types of protection against rodents: this is absolutely safe for nature and a fairly effective mechanical method, and a little more unpleasant for the environment, but to some extent even more reliable, chemical method of protection.

With the mechanical method, trunks or trunks, if we are talking about shrubs, need to be tied with something, wrapped around, somehow closed so that the rodents could see the "prey" but could not get to it.

The very first option is coniferous spruce branches. They can tie both the bases of bushes and tree trunks. Moreover, both large and recently planted. This method has a clear plus - it's cheapness. The method is quite effective: the needles are pricked, and if you tie the trunks and trunks well, then the rodents will not get to them. But there are also disadvantages - the law on forest protection provides for a serious fine for all kinds of theft. True, twigs of spruce branches can always be picked up in clearings, of which there are many now.

Plastic netting is perhaps the most common type of plant protection against rodents. Of course, it is difficult to install a plastic mesh on the trunks of shrubs, but it protects the trees reliably. The main thing is not to rush to install a plastic mesh and not to save on it.

It is better to put it after the first snowball falls, about 5-7 centimeters, when it settles down - then it can be installed by taking not a short piece, but up to the first branches of the trees. Disadvantages of a plastic mesh: it perfectly protects from mice, but it may not save you from hares.

The hare is able to stand on its hind legs and gnaw wood above the net. Of course, in this case, shoots located above the grafting site will suffer, but still most of the shoots, and sometimes all, will be destroyed and the tree will have to acquire them again.

Roofing material and roofing felt are good materials. They can also be used to tie the trunks of trees and shrubs, applying layers as tightly as possible, be sure to dip them a little into the soil and tie them with a rope.

However, this material has a huge drawback - during periods of thaws, it heats up a lot, condensation forms under it, the bark can begin to rot or even rot, and the wood heats up. This is bad, because if such weather suddenly sets in in winter, then both the roofing felt and the roofing material need to be removed (you must admit that this is quite tiring).

It is not uncommon for gardeners to simply tamp the snow around bushes and trees as tightly as possible from time to time. This is a good way to protect yourself from mice, because it will not run on the surface of the snow, and it will not dig a course in a compacted layer of snow. True, for hares, on the contrary, this is an open road - run up along it and gnaw.

Tying the trunk of a young tree with a special tape to protect it from sunburn, as well as rodents and hares
Tying the trunk of a young tree with a special tape to protect it from sunburn, as well as rodents and hares

The easiest and safest way to protect against rodents is to treat the plants with a mixture of clay and cow dung mixed in equal proportions. As a result, you should have a consistency similar to liquid garden var or sour cream, only this will stick and quickly solidify on the trunk, and not drain down. For a greater effect, add about a tablespoon of carbolic acid to ten liters of the mixture and be sure to mix everything thoroughly.

This solution is just perfect for coating the stems of raspberries, blackberries, young trees, and old trees too. You can lubricate it higher so that even a large hare, standing on its hind legs, does not reach the branches. True, the crust and the height of the snow cover can play into the hands of the hare, in this case, loosen the snow more often, breaking the crust.

There are years when there are not just a lot of mice on the site, but it seems as if the mice attacked us and want to capture. In this case, it is simply necessary to use poisoned baits. Usually they are prepared on their own, using rye or wheat bread and grains of various cereals for this, after placing them in poison.

But this method has a huge disadvantage: it is extremely dangerous for birds and pets. How to be? - To make mice an interesting bait: after processing grains or bread in a solution of any poison from rodents, place these poisoned components in tubes, say, from roofing material. Except for mice, none of pets and birds will get such "food". Of course, it is most environmentally friendly to use traps, mouse traps, traps, but all this sinks in winter under piles of snow.

Wrapping tree trunks with a fine mesh
Wrapping tree trunks with a fine mesh

Protecting the garden from hares

On the surface, these are pleasant creatures, but how many troubles can happen when you realize that the garden is literally destroyed, as well as money well spent and a lot of work.

From hares, you can solve the problem in one fell swoop by installing a real, durable and high fence around the site so that they can neither crawl under it nor jump over it. In order for the fence to "work", when installing it, you need to bury the iron sheets about thirty centimeters into the soil in order to completely eliminate the trenches, and the height of the fence must be at least two meters, because sometimes a layer of snow can fall a meter or even one and a half.

In addition, on the site, when a large amount of snow falls, or doing it periodically, you can scatter stem wormwood. It has been noticed that hares do not tolerate this smell, and hunters often even use this technique, literally leading the hare to where they need it. In addition to scattering wormwood, you can wrap the trunks of trees and shrubs with its branches in the fall or plant it nearby.

Hares do not tolerate strong odors, so for those who have a large farm, you can leave a piece of bacon, wait until it turns rancid and hang it in the area near the tree (s) or bush (s), and sometimes it is enough to rub the trunks thoroughly with very rancid lard trees so that the hares do not even touch them.

Fish oil, naphthalene - they are also rejected by hares and will not eat bark from such foul-smelling plants. Avid gardeners even make a mixture of fat and naphthalene in a ratio of about seven to one and coat trunks and shoots with this composition.

If you are an ardent admirer of chemistry, we can advise you to purchase the drug " Karnofer " in the store. In the fall, they can process the entire garden. They say that its smell neutralizes the sensitive receptors of hares, they will not even smell edible.

But back to the lovers of everything environmentally friendly. Wood ash, if you have a lot of it, it can fulfill a double role: to enrich the soil with potassium and protect it from hares. Peat crumb can scare them away, especially if it is well flavored with kerosene (a liter of peat chips per bucket).

Rustles and strange sounds …. Shy as a hare, they say so sometimes about this or that. Shouldn't the gardener use the hare's fearfulness? Now, for example, there are many cheap Chinese wind chimes on sale that can be hung on trees. The wind will sway them, and the hares will be afraid. Although, to be honest, I personally do not really believe in this method of scaring away hares. Please write in the comments if anyone managed to scare off the hare with such methods.

Protective net around the tree trunk
Protective net around the tree trunk

The nicest way. What could be more pleasant than a cat, especially a moderately well-fed, moderately affectionate and one that not only eats and sleeps, but also loves to run on the snow and hunt. These are, for example, Maine Coons, my favorite breed.

In size, they are hardly smaller than a hare, because they are quite large and their hunting instinct is very developed. Maybe they won't kill the hare, but they will definitely drive it away, and at the same time they will exterminate all the rats and mice on the site. And the neighboring territories will also be cleaned, because the range of their adventures is sometimes huge.

If the tree is already damaged

If the tree is damaged and the bites are not in the ring, then you need to make the simplest decoction from linden bark. In the spring, just pick up the linden bark, chop it well and boil about half a bucket of linden bark filled to the very top with ice water for half an hour or a little more, then strain.

As a result, you should get a mass that looks like a jelly, with which you lubricate the gnaws (if they are not around the whole circle!). It is best to put plain brown paper over the greased parts, pulling it well but not tying it. As the tree grows, it will simply break and there will be no constrictions. About two months, the impromptu bandage cannot be removed, then the wound should heal.

A slightly more modern method, which I learned about relatively recently, is "plastic bandages". Everything is simple here - the bite points are wrapped in plastic wrap. What are the advantages? The film transmits all the sun's rays and, as if protecting the wound, stimulates its healing, and all processes occurring in the wound are clearly visible through the film.

If the bites are in a circle, then it is better to inoculate with a bridge and transfer the tree, re-graft it or uproot and plant a new one in this place.

That's all the ways, if someone knows about others, write about them in the comments, it will be very interesting.

Recommended: