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Help! Something ATE my rosebush!!

bellcanyonblonde

14 years ago

I was doing my daily garden walk and when I got to my rose bed, I saw that my beloved Just Joey was hacked! Just yesterday she was leafing beautifully and had buds all over her. Today it looks like she's had a terrible prune job. Branches seem to have clean breaks and only one lonely bud remains. The rest of the bushes are untouched. Any suggestions? We're gated, so I'm fairly certain it wasn't a human.

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Comments (10)

zack_lau z6 CT ARS Consulting Rosarian
14 years ago
Rabbits have very sharp teeth--they gave our Tuscany Superb a 12" crew cut--it was protected by 12" hardware cloth cylinder. I'll have to do something to protect the new growth this spring. But, in our case, it looks like it was done with surgical precision.
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
14 years ago
Hopefully no human would get that hungry. LOL. A rabbit
probably, they like to sneak in gardens early in the morning when were sleeping.
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ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
14 years ago
We've had similar situations with very clean breaks and also suspect rabbits since we know they live here and have a tendency to come out during the night, which eliminates squirrels or ground squirrels. We also have gophers, so can't rule out that possibility completely, but my best guess is rabbits.
lesmc
14 years ago
My bet is on rabbits, also. About 20 of my roses were eaten to the ground during the winter. All clean breaks and I found the canes spread around the rose. Rabbits are a terrible problem for me and I feel I have tried just about everything. Only chicken wire cages work. This does not makefor a very pretty garden!! Let us know if you catch the varmit!! Lesley
bellcanyonblonde
Original Author
14 years ago
I had myself convinced it was a squirrel. We have both tree and ground squirrels, but after seeing all the responses, I guess it's a rabbit. We have hundreds of bunnies and I definitely have a love/ hate relationship with them; But they've never touched my roses before! Any plants or suggestions to discourage, but not kill them? Chicken wire cages wouldn't work for this space, since it's visible from a big window in the living room.
zack_lau z6 CT ARS Consulting Rosarian
14 years ago
I've been replacing the ugly chicken wire with hardware cloth dipped in green plastic--it does look better.
predfern
14 years ago
You may have to resort to hardware cloth or chicken wire. Some folks recommend Liquid Fence.
sunandshadow
14 years ago
Squirrels don't really eat leaves and branches, they mostly eat nuts/seeds, fruits, and some types of root.
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
14 years ago
Our yard is fenced off, but, rabbits still get in. They can squeeze those bodies through the holes of regular sized fence holes. LOL. They haven't bothered anything yet.
(knock on wood)

Once in awhile i'll let the dog out at 2am and there they are in the middle of the yard eating grass/clover. The dog chases them and they just slide out through those fence holes. LOL

Years ago I had one get stuck, I had to go out and widen the fence hole to let it get through, the rabbit actually hissed/growled/squealed (whatever you call it) at me. LOL
iowa_jade
14 years ago
When I lived in the pinelands in Florida in the late 40's, there was nothing for the rabbits to eat and plenty to eat them.

Florida has changed a bit.

F.L.

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