Northwest Iowa — With the cold of the past few days and the recent snow, it reminds us that soon our landscape will be a blanket of white, perhaps for several months.
Winter brings food scarcity for animals, which makes the home landscape a target for rabbits. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach experts say that rabbits can severely damage trees and shrubs unless homeowners are proactive, which makes protecting them before winter arrives a major priority. Extension horticulturists tell how to protect trees and shrubs against rabbits this winter.
They say that the most effective way to prevent rabbit damage to trees and shrubs in the home landscape is to place chicken wire or hardware cloth fencing around vulnerable plants. To adequately protect plants, they say the fencing material needs to be high enough that rabbits won’t be able to climb or reach over the fence after a heavy snow. In most cases, a fence that stands 24 to 36 inches tall should be sufficient.
Extension experts say that in order to prevent rabbits from crawling underneath the fencing, you can pin the fencing to the soil with U-shaped anchor pins. Small trees can also be protected by placing white corrugated or spiral tree guards around their trunks. If the weather forecast holds true, a good time to take care of these items (and maybe get a head start on outdoor holiday decorating!) might be this Wednesday and Thursday when highs are forecast in the mid 40’s.
After a heavy snow, extension experts say you should check protected plants to make sure rabbits aren’t able to reach or climb over the fencing or tree guards. If necessary, they suggest you remove some of the snow to keep rabbits from reaching the trees or shrubs.
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If you have questions, contact the ISU Hortline at 515-294-3108 or hortline@iastate.edu.
