Girdled Apple Trees

[MilkweedManiac]

Hey Folks.

Planted a few Apple trees from the big box store this spring and it looks like the rabbits have had their way with about 4 of them.

I have been slowly but surely placing window screen around them, but life has a way of getting in the way.

According to what I’m reading online, the ones girdled all the way around are dead meat.

The other two are iffy.

So my question is, what can I do right now (if anything) to help the trees? I’ve heard of covering the wound with moist peat moss covered in plastic as a way of transporting nutrients past the wound, but not sure if that is really effective or not.

Another option I guess I could try is waiting and then trying a Bridge graft this spring???

Thoughts appreciated.

 

[chickenlittle]

Ones that just got nibbled on will be fine. If it is girdled clear around, I'd say it is toast. If you want to bridge graft, do it now. Or if you have some young seedling apples somewhere, you might try transplanting one next to the girdled tree and try an inarch graft. Whether any of those grafts would take now is hard to say.

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the effort on a young tree like that. Especially if you are already busy with other stuff. Just take it as a lesson to have your stuff prepared and ready to go before you buy and plant.

 

[MilkweedManiac]

Thanks for the feedback. Yes. Always a lesson learned. Having planted around 60 fruit trees this year, I count myself blessed having only lost 4 to the rabbits so far.

As to grafting them in the summer, thank you for this suggestion. I didn’t know if it was a viable option or not.

 

[sandbur]

If you have one bud above the graft union and below the complete girdle, just cut it off and put a 1/4 inch mesh cage around it.

Otherwise, cut them off and let the rootstock grow to be topworked latet.


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[sandbur]

Last year I bought a tree from a nursery and the rabbits got into their trees over a weekend(Lots of trees)

The nursery manager gave me one tree in addition to my purchase.

It had one bud above the graft.

It is now almost five foot tall and feathered.


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[MilkweedManiac]

Wow. That's some great information. I will check these out and see. I know that all apple trees are likely grafted, but for whatever reason the big "knot" graft mark doesn't show on a lot of the trees I bought. I'll look more closely to find it and hopefully a bud above.

 

[chummer]

I do have one dolgo that was girdled all the way around a couple years ago. I piled dirt above the girdling and left it for dead. It has looked horrible for the last two year but this year bounced back enough to earn a cage. Not sure if this is one in a million or a viable solution.

 

[MilkweedManiac]

Thanks everyone. The rabbits have been good teachers. To be honest, I had no idea apple bark was on their summer menu and had put off finalizing the mesh wire until the last thing.

I did find at least one bud above the graft on most of the girdled trees, so I lopped them off at 45 degree angle, for better or worse. My goal is to have thriving apple trees, not surviving ones.

Thankfully, the severely affected trees, a Winesap, Jonagold, and Pink Lady, we actually purchased on clearance for like $8-$12. So no really big loss. I will probably delete them officially and replace if they do not start showing me something worth seeing.

 

[homerj]

Summer time bark chewing is more likely due to woodchucks than bunnies IME

 

[trampledbyturtles]

Posted this fella awhile back
Slapped on a heavy glob of treekote all the way around the tree an walked away.
Figured Id just let him go an try an encourage a bud below the damage.

Got the bud I was looking for, but to my suprise he just kept on going, half the number of apples as last year. All pulled off.
Looks to have set him back a touch but has rebounding nicely with all the rain.

 

[pinetag14]

I've heard that using soil from beneath the tree and packing it on the wound will help....something to do with the localized microbes. Maybe that's just for diseases though? My neighbor had an ornamental cherry that got diseased real bad and i told him about that, the tree is completely healed over and doing fine.

 

[tylorklein]

I have zero prior grafting experience. Mice fully girdled a dozen of mine last winter. I bridge grafted (thanks Google and this forum) all of them then covered the whole exposed area in wound compound. 10 of them seem totally fine. Two didn't make it. Took very little time so might be worth a shot.

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