Hares in the Country: How to Save Young Seedlings

Rodents cause significant damage to young gardens. Hares gnaw bark and even wood. Damage to tree trunks shows characteristic marks from the animals' front incisors. They typically gnaw on seedlings above the snow cover. If gardeners are unwilling to resort to radical pest control, they resort to alternative methods. The most effective are preventing rodents from entering the plot or directly protecting the seedling.

Methods of protection

Preparing your garden for winter should be done well in advance. Simply keeping the area tidy and clean is not enough. In early autumn, it's important to protect young trees and seedlings. Experienced gardeners know that these are a tasty morsel for uninvited furry rodents. In winter, when food is scarce, the animals happily munch on the bark and hardwood of young shoots.

Strengthening the fence

One of the options protection from hares – block their entry into the garden. However, this method isn't suitable for every plot. If the planting area is large, or the fence is built only to mark the garden's boundaries, or if there's no fence at all, there's no point in reinforcing the barrier. A solid fence with minor gaps is reinforced with chain-link fencing. Wire fencing comes in rolls, making it easy to install. It's buried 25-30 cm into the ground to prevent rodents from digging underneath. The top edge is secured to additional posts or directly to the main fence.

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Trunk shelter

To protect the trunk, various materials are used, wrapped around the tree. Spruce or pine branches, reed or sunflower stems, and fine-mesh chain-link fencing make insurmountable barriers. Garden centers offer plastic covers in two halves. The sequence for installing the protection is as follows:

1. They collect fallen fruit and rotten fruits - they may contain insect larvae that, after overwintering, will cause harm to the crop.
2. The bark of the seedling and the soil in the trunk circle are treated with copper or iron sulfate.
3. Remove moss and lichen.
4. The lower part of the trunk is treated with a lime mixture.
5. Cut protective material blanks at least 1 m long. If the region experiences snowy winters, the distance is increased slightly.
6. The “protection” is wrapped around the trunk and securely fixed with strong twine or knitting wire.

Use of repellent odors

Substances with a pungent odor can prevent hares from damaging seedlings. To ensure the protective compound retains its properties for a long time, it is applied as a coating. The mixture is prepared from clay and mullein. They are taken in equal parts and diluted with water to the consistency of sour cream. One tablespoon of carbolic acid or 50 grams of creolin is added to the mixture for every 10 liters. The mixture is applied to the trunks of seedlings up to 1.2 meters high.

Shelter periods

In winter, plants enter a period of stagnation. However, roots continue to nourish the trunk and crown, albeit inactively. Saplings are covered to provide comfortable conditions for overwintering. Young trees are especially susceptible to cold temperatures. Timely covering ensures:

1. Frost protection. Freezing temperatures negatively impact the root system of seedlings. Plants that survive frost without protection are more susceptible to disease and poor growth.
2. Maintaining the integrity of the bark. Frost can damage or crack the bark. This is especially true for seedlings whose bark is still tender and hasn't had time to harden. Damage to the trunk's covering leads to plant deformation, weakening, and disease.
3. Preventing rodent attacks. Covering the plant will create an additional barrier to these furry pests' access to young shoots.

The timing of covering seedlings depends on the climate zone. However, in any case, the protective procedure should not be performed until the average daily temperature drops below 10°C. There's no need to rush to cover trees. Early insulation prolongs the growing season, which can actually harm the plant if it doesn't enter dormancy in time. However, don't leave the seedling without minimal protection during the first frost.

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Precautionary measures work individually, but they can also be used in combination, and humane protection will be more effective than traps, snares, and weapons. Young seedlings will survive the winter safely and grow into full-fledged, fruit-bearing trees.