Hi,
The past few days I’ve had the top shoots of my Tatarian Maples eaten by an unknown visitor.
It’s almost exclusively the very tips that are being consumed. At first I thought it might be som kind of snail, but it seems hard for them to slide up the thin top shoot.
As I said, I haven’t seen any signs left behind by the visitor, more than the missing shoots.
Any suggestions? I live in Sweden btw.
/Erik
Looks like a four legged creature did this. They love deciduous with all those sugars at those young tips.
Maybe an insect? That was my first thought. You could always try spraying to knock whatever it is out. I go to insect because you mentioned the shoots high up at the terminus. Another thought could be some kind of four-legged visitor, like @MtBakerBonsai mentioned. I have had trees attacked by rabbits. So far this year I’ve trapped and released over 20. They have been able to cause some pretty impressive damage. Now I just use a live trap and release them elsewhere.
Yeah, could probably be some four legged creature. We have huge problems with deer in early spring, maybe they have made a late visit. But the deer usually do alot more damage and most often take a dump at the crime scene. But rabbits could be the answer.
Thanks for the answers guys!
A little garlic, a little white wine, an hour at 325F…Bobs your uncle, no more problem! I prefer a nice rose though…
This doesnt look like rabbits or mice. Especially at the top of the tree…
Are the trees on benches? If not, that would be my first activity. Get them off the ground!
If yes, put out some mice sticky traps (they will catch large insects, too!) and a beer trap for snails ( an inch of malty beer in a tuna can…)…
If you see a drunk rabbit or deer with a sticky trap on his nose, let us know!
The Tatarian Maples are located on a low bench approx 20cm off the ground.
A couple of days ago I discovered the same type of damage on a few shoots on one of my Oaks. The damaged Oak sits on a high bench. This makes me think that it probably is Deer. The gnawed off top shoots on the Oak is located around 1,5m off the ground.
