something ate blueberry bushes

nanatoeight 3/23/2013, 11:55 am

I went outside today to look at my blueberry bushes and something has eaten all the branches off them...only the main stems are left. I know we have rabbits and squirrels around, but they have never bothered them in the last 2 years. Anyone else have this problem? I know it's not deer...we don't have them in our village. Sad

CapeCoddess 3/23/2013, 12:07 pm

Ohhhh...good to know that it's that time. I had this problem last year with my new maple sapling hedge and thought it must be deer since it was so high up. So I mixed up and spritzed them with water, couple drops of soap and some cayenne pepper. It seemed to work. Guess I'd better get it going now, too.

CC

a savage gardener 3/23/2013, 10:22 pm

If the ends are cleanly chewed of, as if cut with a pair of pruning shears, then it was a rabbit. If it looks kind of rough at the end, then it was a deer.

Deer don't have top teeth ( i think it's the top), so they bite and tear at what they are eating. Rabbits have teeth on top and bottom that work just like pruners.

I'm not sure squirrels would eat the stems of the bush, more like the fruit when it is available. They like flower bulbs ( don't we all know that), fruits and nuts-acorns, etc.

I have a Black Walnut tree in my yard that a little red squirrel set up camp in last summer and wouldn't let anyone near including bigger grey squirrels. The grey squirrels took a liking to my veggies instead of fighting with the red squirrel.

a savage gardener

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