Hi,
I'm hoping someone knows a bit about pear trees. My little tree (4 feet tall, second year in my ground, has 2 pears starting!) suddenly went brown. His leaves just dried right up. I watered, I looked him over and behold it looks like the rabbits and squirrels have been nibbling the bark at his base. I've since put a barrier/wrap around the trunk to foil the wildlife but is he savable? If I just keep watering him, might he come back next year or should I write him off and buy a new one? Could a graft of some sort be done? How would I do it?
So sad as I was really pleased by his progress this year. (Why couldn't they nibble on the bean tree which produces nothing edible??)
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Frugal.
“The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I can't answer your question Frugal but I have the same problem. Same age pear tree and it seemed to be doing fine a month ago. I'll go look at the base of the tree now that you mentioned it 🙂
Anyone have an answer??
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*´¨`•.¸¸Anita <>< *.•´¸¸¨`*
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Quack, Cluck, Moo, Hee-Haw, Meow and Baaaaaaa from Shalom Engedi Farm
http://adventures-in-country-living.blogspot.com/
If they nibbled all the way around the trunk (aka ringed the trunk) its finished. A tree must have its bark in order to survive. My geese did this to a few trees this past winter. The one tree that had a bit of bark left, survived. The others did not.
yup, if they ringed it, and eat in deep enough, they will have killed it, and even if they did it high enough up that you get the tree putting out new growth below, it won't make a good fruit tree shape, if in fact its not the root stock of the tree.. any way you cut it.. its done, just replace it and put a protective ring around it, note, as you have wild rabbits, remember that in winter, to raise the protection, as the can and will eat up as the snowline goes 🙂
http://livingmydreamlifeonthefarm.wordpress.com/
Great information as fruit trees are the project of the year for me.
Would they also do this to other fruit trees such as apple or nectarine?
Any suggestions for protective ring materials?
I have some 4' chicken wire and wonder if that would be enough.
Hi Denob
they love all kinds of fruit trees, and bushes, and fruiting canes, etc, I trim off and give them to the rabbit pretty much weekly, very, very good for the expecting does and momma's with kits.
Anyway, first off ,we don't have any wild rabbits, or other issues, we have farm cats, and live traps when needed if something slips by, but the one time we did have a issue, Jason did the four poles around the tree and then double wrapped the same wire hardcloth that we get for the hutches around in the full two or three feet depending on the height of the tree..
chickenwire is way to flexable, and easily pulled apart, they would be able to go though it with ease.
http://livingmydreamlifeonthefarm.wordpress.com/
I have lost a heck of a lot of young trees to voles (voles are plump furry brown rodents that eat roots, moles are smaller for the most part and eat insects so while they make soil hills it is not to the detriment of plants ) I have fond keeping all the grass mown so there is not much cover from predators seems to be the best deterant so far.