Hi all - thanks for all the thoughtful and helpful responses!
First off… DAMN THE RABBITS!!
@ZombieFruit, @ltilton tilton -
After reading your responses, I went and had a more detailed look. Based on your input, it seems like maybe 1/2 of them might have a chance, though the other half are down to wood and fully girdled.
@oscar - that’s wild! I didn’t know about bridge grafting and inarching before. Thanks for teaching me. Am I understanding correctly that you’re suggesting to not stress the trees, and leave them in the garden bed another year (or at least until the fall)? I was curious if (given the narrow path of nutrients/water), if the top should be reduced (even on those damaged, but more likely to survive)? Your strategy of taking some scion will do that on some, but just getting a sense of if that balancing is generally needed.
@randy_ga, @dannytoro1, @jrd51, @jcf -
Thanks for confirming this is rabbit damage. While we have both, I suspected rabbit, given they’re right around head height. The population of rabbits was none 2 years ago, and last year totally exploded. Like rabbits everywhere, all the time… and so dumb… you could walk right up to them and not have them run off, though they wisened up a bit over the year. I think there’s going to be some rabbit control going on this spring. Darren, I just need to borrow one of your dogs for a week or two!
I’ve never had any of my older trees (say 5th leaf) bothered by rabbits (and still not today). Will they go after the larger trees, or just the young tender ones? I’m pretty sure I know this answer and have gotten lucky, but would be good to hear.
The protectors I bought were 2’, and I was planning on cutting them in half. Is a foot enough, or I should definitely keep them full size?
@mrsg47, well, I actually have a number of the spiral plastic ones. When I ordered rootstock from grandpa’s, I ordered some of those, but like a big dummy, never put them on! Won’t make that mistake again!
@Nicholas - That’s a real mean rodent! Pretty amazing that rootstock survived… I guess just rooting above the damage.
@JohannsGarden - I see what you’re saying… I did assume that once the outer bark was gone, that cambium would likely perish not being protected, but it sounds like that is a bad assumption. Thanks for helping to educate me.
All - is there any need to ‘clean up’ any of the chewings or bark, where it’s rough? or, just let it go?
Also, is there any special protection needed the damaged rootstocks, outside of using a spiral wrap? We have pretty intense sun here, and it can be very dry most of the year (our wet months are March-May.
Thanks for the assist, everyone!
Fun Rabbit Fact of the Day - Rabbits have two uteri and can have two ‘batches’ in the oven at the same time. It’s why they are the ultimate lab testing specimen for certain types of birth control.