Often after a cold winter, gardeners find chewed bark on apple trees, especially for young trees. Rodents may covet the bark, especially in a hungry year. If the damage is severe, the apple tree may even die. Therefore, you should know what to do if hares or mice have chewed on an apple tree and how to resist these pests.
An apple tree that was gnawed by hares.
Dangerous situation
In winter, rodents move to areas closer to people to find food. They become more active because it becomes cold in their natural habitats and there is a lack of food. Mice gnaw on the trunk, but most often damage only the bark; the trunk does not suffer much. But sometimes they undermine the roots of a plant, especially if they settle under it. Hares cause more damage and can chew through the cambium.
Trees usually recover on their own if only part of the bark is damaged. But severe damage to the tree is not able to heal. Damage to the cortex causes several problems:
- without external protection, the tree suffers from the cold;
- open wounds can contain harmful bacteria or fungal spores;
- If the cambium is damaged, the tree's nutritional procedure is disrupted.
In any case, you should not ignore apple trees that have been damaged by rodents. If a tree trunk is damaged around its circumference, the tree becomes very sick and may even die.
Compress for a sick tree
Yes, and the plant needs to be treated. If the wounds are minor, then you can apply a compress consisting of linden decoction. To prepare, you will need water and 200 grams of linden bark.
The raw materials are crushed, filled with water and boiled for about 40 minutes. After cooling, the decoction is applied to the damaged bark and wrapped in burlap. The bandage must be kept until the wounds are completely healed. Usually it takes several months.
How to identify a pest
Many rodents don't mind eating tasty bark, especially in winter when food is running low. Apple trees are especially tasty for animals because they have fairly thin bark. They attack trees younger than 10 years old.
Mice invasion
Damage from a mouse infestation is usually the mildest. But this is if only one or a few pests are affected. Mice gnaw the outer layer of bark in a narrow ring. However, if the damage is very large, the apple tree may become sick.
The appearance of hares
Hares have stronger teeth and therefore damage tree bark more. They chew it off in pieces, leaving deeper wounds. In addition, they have a greater need for food, so the area of damage is much larger.
Water voles
The most dangerous pests are water voles. They harm plant roots by acting in the underground part of the tree. And the danger is that it is almost impossible to detect damage immediately. In case of severe damage, it will be necessary to graft the seedlings onto the tree and cut off part of the crown.
conclusions
- Damage to the bark (if it has been eaten/eaten/gnawed/gnawed by rodents) is very dangerous for an apple tree. In this case, conducting cells die and sap flow stops. Accordingly, the tree dries out and dies.
- The method of treatment (how to restore and how to help) and its success depends on the severity of the wound. If the cambium is preserved, the tree will certainly heal. If not, saving him is much more difficult.
- If the bark on the trunk is only partially destroyed, you can save the apple tree with the help of medicinal dressings.
- In case of severe, especially circular, damage, the tree can only be saved using radical methods. The best results are achieved by grafting with bridges from cuttings of the same apple tree.
- Preventing trunk gnawing is much easier than subsequently treating the tree. A variety of methods, both mechanical and chemical, are used to scare away hares.
Read here what to do if the bark of an apple tree is chewed by mice.
Protecting apple trees from mice and hares
It is necessary to protect trees, especially young ones, rather than deal with the consequences later. There are some measures that will become an obstacle for rodents. It is better to carry them out comprehensively.
Sheltering the trunk of an apple tree from pest invasion.
First of all, it is necessary to clean the tree trunk area in the fall. All leaves, carrion and weed residues will need to be collected and burned. The clean trunk circle needs to be dug up, the trunk and skeletal branches must be whitened. If there is a compost heap on the site, it will need to be sealed.
Barrel cover
The easiest way to protect a trunk is to cover it. It’s better to wrap it, but hook the lower branches and deepen it a little. For covering, you can use fiberglass, burlap, mineral wool, spunbond or roofing felt. Then rodents will not be able to get to the trunk. But it is important to assemble the shelter at the very beginning of spring.
Obstacles
Mechanical barriers in the way of rodents will not allow them to get to young trees. Several types of material can be used:
- The chain-link mesh needs to be dug into the ground and installed around the trunk. It will be enough to make a shelter no more than a meter high, but the cells should be small;
- spruce branches can be tied tightly to the trunk. No pest will want to feast on thorns;
- use plastic bottles. The neck and bottom are cut off from them, and an incision is made on the side to put them on the tree. You can use tape to secure the bottles.
In these ways you can protect trees from the teeth of rodents.
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Not the most humane way, but effective. However, pets may be harmed by poisonous baits, so you will need to be careful. To get rid of mice, the same products that help to clean them in the house are suitable. It could be:
- Ratobor;
- Rubigon;
- Storm;
- Goliath.
You can use any of their effective analogues. You just need to hide them from bad weather.
Unpleasant odors
The use of substances that emit unpleasant odors is a more humane method, but it also works. Hares and mice cannot tolerate the smell of cilantro, black root, and sunny. Herbs can be chopped and tied to the trunk or scattered near the roots. Dry substances can be placed in fabric bags or plastic bottles with holes.
Spraying
They will need to be repeated every month, but the remedy is effective. Emulsion paint, Bordeaux mixture or copper sulfate solution will help.
Spraying an apple tree against hares.
These drugs should only be used in protective suits, because the substances can harm people. The first treatment is carried out after the leaves have fallen and after the first frost. Then it is carried out every 30 days.
Noise repellers
Hares are quite shy, so any noise will be protection. The main thing for a repeller is to make enough noise. You can cut plastic bottles, aluminum cans, or simply stretch ribbons or garbage bags. The main task of such structures is to make as many sounds as possible.
There are special noise repellers that irritate mice. They are sold in special stores. If you place them on the site, then rodents will not be able to stay there.
How to save a gnawed apple tree
Even in winter, when the snow melts, you can inspect the trees to check their integrity. At this time, the gardener can protect the apple tree from frost. The barrel must be wrapped with film in several layers, and roofing material must be secured on top. This will help the young tree not to suffer from severe frosts.
If damage to the bark is discovered in the spring, then it is necessary to save the tree. First of all, you will need to remove the remaining debris from under the tree and clean the bark. Then you can use various means.
Clay mash
It is necessary to cover the damaged areas with a clay mash, lightly touching the living area of the bark. The lubrication area should be wrapped in cotton cloth and left for the whole summer. Over time, it will be noticeable that the tissue is spreading as new bark grows underneath it. The fabric you should choose is light, cotton.
Preparing mash is very simple. You need to take half a bucket of clay and fill it with water so that it covers the clay 2 cm above. You need to leave it like this for a couple of hours so that the clay is well soaked, stirring occasionally. When the lumps disperse, you can use it for its intended purpose.
Healing a wound on an apple tree with a clay mash.
Linden bark
Linden bark will be a good way to heal wounds from exposure to rodents. A special decoction is prepared, for which you will need to take 200 g of dry bark. It is crushed, cut into small pieces, poured with a liter of water and boiled for 40 minutes. The result is a rather thick mass that needs to be applied to the trunk and secured. This compress is left on the tree until August.
Bridge design
This method will be especially relevant if the damage area is large and circumferential. You can use young shoots, thin branches, even from other trees. The bridge is prepared like this:
- the tree trunk is cleaned and treated with copper sulfate;
- cut cuttings of the same size, cutting them at an acute angle along the edges;
- cuts are made on the bark at the top and bottom, into which the cuttings are placed;
- the place where the connection will be is covered with garden pitch, and the top is insulated with polyethylene.
The shoots will gradually grow to the bark, replacing the damaged parts. They will gradually become a full-fledged trunk.
Engraftment of the cortex
This method is a kind of patches on the bark. It is quite complex and requires preparation for execution, but it will help heal even quite large wounds. To engraft the bark, it is necessary to find a donor, a tree from which a section of the bark will be removed. The tree on which the patch will be placed must be cleaned, and the bark from the donor must be carefully removed with a sharp knife. The cut must be applied to the wounded tree so that its area is larger than the area of damage, and secured with electrical tape.
Cutting the trunk for reverse growth
This is a drastic method that is used in extreme situations, if the damage is very severe and there are no options. Above the lower bud, you need to completely cut down the trunk, and cover the stump with garden varnish. Young shoots will come from strong roots, from which you can choose one shoot to leave. Next year it will be grown as a new trunk.
We take action in a timely manner
It is important for gardeners to know that timely measures will help preserve the tree. If you wait to protect it, it may soon die.
Advice for summer residents: if, while checking the area in winter, you notice damage to the seedlings, you should prevent cracks from appearing on the bark due to frost. To do this, it is important to immediately coat the affected areas of the trunk with a special garden paste. Next, the bark is wrapped with film, and agrofibre is laid on top. Everything is secured with wire.
You don’t have to worry about the tree until spring, but continue caring for it in the spring, because active sap flow begins.
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Prevention measures
Gardeners cannot predict whether rodents will come to the site. All that is possible is to make their life on the site impossible. To do this you will need:
- remove the tree trunk in the fall so that nothing attracts rodents;
- burn organic waste;
- dig up the soil under the tree;
- carry out whitewashing in the fall.
A preventative measure in the fight against rodents is whitewashing the apple tree.
If you try to carry out all preventative measures in the fall and use tips on how to protect young apple trees, then you won’t have to treat them.
A tree that has damaged part of its bark needs special care. His immunity is weakened, so he will need protection from diseases and pests.
Bridge grafting
If the tree is very damaged, it is important to restore sap flow over the gnawed areas. The method is not suitable for every plant, but only for those with a trunk diameter of 3 cm or more. In this case, the procedure is carried out when active sap flow has already begun.
To vaccinate, you will need cuttings from a healthy tree or a diseased one that has healthy growth. The material for grafting should be cut before the first thaw and stored in damp sand in a dark place.
The essence of the procedure is as follows. The chewed area is cleaned and lubricated with fungicide. Next, make T-shaped cuts under the sore spot and on top, inserting the ends of the harvested shoots into them. You can fix it with a piece of cloth and treat it with garden paste. Wrap the cuttings themselves in film for additional protection.
