Rabbits chewed up my JM prebonsai

TreeJunkie

Sapling
Messages
43
Reaction score
14
Location
Burlington, VT
USDA Zone
5a
Just realized that rabbits have been chewing on my new JM prebonsai.. 😐

They chewed off all the nice lower branches and gnawed into the trunk. I’ve been keeping it out on my front walkway during the day while im at work and thought the wind got those branches but then I saw the chew marks

1E164762-92C4-4FAA-9368-86C963C70FB4.jpeg

6DCA563F-40F1-4E9C-B2FB-73D26DDBBDF5.jpeg

Before

45866FED-9942-42F3-8836-64A346001E42.jpeg

Any chance this back buds down there at any point?
 

Tieball

Masterpiece
Messages
3,098
Reaction score
3,173
Location
Michigan. 6a
USDA Zone
6a
I have escaped rabbit damage due to a pack of Coyotes and a Bobcat roaming around.

I don’t know about the back budding. I’m sure someone with that experience will reply. However. The bottom line to me is wait-and-see what happen…..then you’ll know.
 

TreeJunkie

Sapling
Messages
43
Reaction score
14
Location
Burlington, VT
USDA Zone
5a
I have escaped rabbit damage due to a pack of Coyotes and a Bobcat roaming around.

I don’t know about the back budding. I’m sure someone with that experience will reply. However. The bottom line to me is wait-and-see what happen…..then you’ll know.

We used to have bobcats in my neighborhood but I haven’t seem them since we moved in a few years ago.

Wish they’d come back…
 
Messages
1,944
Reaction score
5,292
Location
SE Michigan
USDA Zone
6a
Looks like you have a rabbit salad bar setup there. 😄 Can you elevate them to put them out of reach? Rabbit wire is relatively cheap, used just need to anchor it down good. Maybe toss a sacrificial head of lettuce in the neighbor's yard before you go to work .
 

TreeJunkie

Sapling
Messages
43
Reaction score
14
Location
Burlington, VT
USDA Zone
5a
Looks like you have a rabbit salad bar setup there. 😄 Can you elevate them to put them out of reach? Rabbit wire is relatively cheap, used just need to anchor it down good. Maybe toss a sacrificial head of lettuce in the neighbor's yard before you go to work .
Its only temporary until temps are consistently high enough for these to stay out at night then I’ll move them to my fenced-in garden. Luckily they haven’t gone for my larch
 

Shibui

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
7,545
Reaction score
15,210
Location
Yackandandah, Australia
USDA Zone
9?
JM are good at back buds from bare wood but it's unlikely to bud while you have a strong and healthy apex growing. Good back budding is usually the result of reduction pruning.
Young trees like this have very little taper in the trunks so reduction pruning is routinely used to help back budding and get taper (by pruning back to a thicker side branch which becomes a new trunk leader) Reduction pruning also adds some bends to the developing trunk.
All that means that the recent rabbit damage is not such a disaster as it may first appear.
 
Top Bottom