Deer also love kiwis.
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Rabbits decimated my cuttings.
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Regarding various pests - deer, rabbits, etc. - eating hardy kiwi leaves, I’ve have to put clear plastic sleeves around new plantings or the deer will eat all the leaves. Once up on the 6 foot trellis wires, however, deer only eat the leaves off of branches that have fallen down between the wires (essentially doing some of my winter pruning for me a little early). A side note: several articles have reported that the leaves of the hardy kiwis are almost as nutritious as the berries, and so when I did some minor summer pruning I threw the branches over the fence so the neighbor’s cows could have a snack. They liked them so much, they eventually pushed down the fence to get at the branches I had simply left beside the fence. When I returned I noticed cow patties around the kiwis, and discovered the neighbor had had a time getting the guilty cow back on its side of the fence, and the fence repaired. Next time, the neighbor asked that if I wanted to drop off any unwanted kiwi branches for his cows to put them towards the center of his property and not near the fence. Next time, happy cows = happy neighbors .
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Mine did not take again, haha. They did put out shoots, but no roots. I think I’m doomed to have a black kiwi cutting thumb.
Thankfully my friend with the kiwi vine does a major cutback every year, so I have unlimited cuttings to kill.
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