well the snow here finally got down to the levels that i can survey the winter damage and it isnt good. voles striped my 3 yr. old lutowka polish cherry to the ground. 1 6 yr old Juliet cherry had all but 1 main branches ripped from the trunk from snow load. most of my honeyberries/ blueberries have about 60% of last years growth broken. voles stripped 1 4yr. aurora to the ground. about 50% of the branches on my hazels are broken. currants had some snow damage but not too bad. voles dont touch them. cane fruit / autumn olive is good. goumi crushed by the snow. that’s half the property. and i put out chunk poison bait last fall. not looking forward to seeing the other half that’s still under 2ft. of snow. this is by far the worst damage from snow and voles since i started planting this place 8 yrs ago. we had a late start to winter then alot of snow in jan. i think all that snow at once may be why there is so much snow damage. the voles i suspected last fall when i saw their tracks. obviously there was way more than the bait stations could deal with. we just got a little feisty female cat im hoping will even the odds. thankfully the new trees i planted last spring had tree guards on them as they would have suffered the same fate. seems mulberry isn’t on the voles menu as all 4 of of my young mulberry were untouched. oh well no use crying about it. tomorrow is prune and cut day. then to start spraying. just got to up my game with the voles. the snow damage is the price i pay growing anything in a deep snow environment. thanks for listening to me vent. i guess it always could have been worse. what’s the chance that polish cherry coming back from the roots? it was 4ft tall.
Sorry to hear that Steve. Voles have been my biggest battle to date as well. I tree guard everything I can in the fall just so I can sleep at night. Any chance of cutting some scion and grafting the cherry back to itself or is there no good wood left?
Sorry to hear about all of the damage.
they took it right to the soil line. had a nest in the branches. the sour cherries are impossible to protect as they have low multi branched trunks. im hoping it sends up some suckers in response like the romance cherries do but still lost 3 yrs. gladly i still have 4 older sours that didnt suffer injury as they’re 6-7 yrs. old with tough bark.
So sorry about the losses, Steve.
Sorry to hear it Steve.
Sorry to hear of the voles. Hard to deal with the issue when there’s a physical barrier like snow.
I am sorry for your loss, Steve. Cherry can go from roots, just give it some time. Did you ever considered to tie the bushes in late fall? If they tied, you will get less damage and it is easy to shake the snow off after (or during)snowfall. I also heard if you trample down the snow after snowfall around trees and bushes it creates less favorable conditions for rodents.
i believe i may start having to do this but of the last 8 yrs it has only been a small issue and only with the blueberries. luckily the voles didnt find them last winter. if it had been as cold as the winter before, i believe there would have been much more damage.
That sucks. I only have 1Harroow sweet affected, with 1/3 of vertical cambium missing. Oopefuly it will just bounce back
Steve get a bunch of waterproof bait boxes with poison. I started using them a few years ago and now all I have are the migrants from the neighbors. Leave them out year round. Even when covered with snow they will find them. They work.
I lost 10 plants myself and never even saw any snow. Misery loves company.
That is very frustrating we have all been there. I’m very sorry to read about the problems this year.
@steveb4 … so sorry to hear you had so much damage this winter. I do hope that your growing season is a good one and many things recover and come back strong.
We could use a good man like you Steve down here in the south. Catfish and Large mouth bass are pretty good substitutes for salmon.
You must love it up there… despite the challenges. Keep doing all you can brother.
TNHunter
Sorry to hear it, Steve. I am in the same boat here. The stupid voles even girdled some 5" diameter apple, pear, and maple trees on my place. They went bonkers on the bush cherries, even elderberries and gooseberry as well. Hope you can recover quickly, and anything not grafted sprouts back for you.
Dang!
Sorry for the trials, they say if things get tough, the tough get going though.
Lost one apple to voles or a mouse since March, and about 3 others damaged
The broken limbs are only temporary unless it’s the central leader of
a tree.
So, you’ll probably have a good harvest… all the best.
Was the cherry tree grafted? Sad, story, sorry.
Sorry to hear the damage. Hope most will bounce back and still have a good growing season
So sorry. Yes I despise voles. My yard is filled with tons of paths every year. When I mow there are always sunken places all over the yard. They even lift slate pathway stones if they are a smaller size.
That’s rough! Very sorry to hear it, Steve—though glad to hear all is not lost. Pursuits horticultural are certainly not for the weak-kneed! Regardless of climate (and yours is a doozy!), disappointments always await.