Monday, October 4, 2010

Rats! Wascally Wabbits Strike Again!

Rats! I guess I’m in a cartoon character kind of mood today. It could be the cold that’s clouding my head. Or, it could be that if I didn’t laugh, I’d cry. I walked out the front door this morning and noticed that the wascally wabbits had munched down not only my new shrub clematis, which had a blossom last week and hasn’t even made it out of its pot yet, but also my beloved Graham Thomas rose – just when it was making a comeback after last year’s munch down.

I’m a live and let live kind of gardener. (Okay, I do kill the Japanese Beetles.) I don’t mind if the rabbits munch (occasionally) on a hosta or two, and understand when they chomp the top off the odd tulip in early spring, but when they strip every leave and most stems from Graham Thomas season after season, steam comes out of my ears! “Aaauuuugggghhhh,” I said aloud (a la Charlie Brown) as I looked at the bare twigs that were green and leafy just yesterday, wishing, not so secretly that the hawk would thin the herd a bit.

Are the wascally wabbits in your garden too? If so, what are they getting? If not, what’s your secret? Do you have a wabbit wemedy that you swear by? Post a comment and let me know.

5 comments:

Marguerite said...

oh dear, I can't say I've ever had rabbit troubles (knock on wood) but I share your pain as I've had deer do the same to me. There's nothing so frustrating as to walk out in a morning and find that kind of devestation. Unfortunately I never found a cure other than to put the offending plant behind a fence.

Anonymous said...

Yes, those pesky and costly rabbits.

I still have not been able to post about it yet,but will real soon on a trimming a Japanese Maple post, the the neighborhood rabbits were responsible for gnawing down my five foot high and eight foot wide laceleaf Japanese maple. Really big teeth chewed half the base of the truck away, and the poor thing lingered away all summer, branch by branch, finally succumbing.

I don't kill wildlife not even the beetles. They get the jar transport to the gorge. But the problem doing that with the rabbits, they come back, since the gorge is only a half block away across a now, unused parkway. They don't even get exterminated by the cars.

Alison said...

I feel your pain, had that happen many times to me in a previous garden. Sooo frustrating! Now that we've moved to the PNW, I have a new garden, enclosed behind a fence, so no rabbits chowing down. The problem here, with all the wetness, is huge slugs that eat almost as much as the rabbits did. I have no problem with killing them.

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

We do have bunnies, and lately they've nibbled everything from buckwheat to squash plants. They mostly seem to be a problem here in the fall, and even the deer fences don't keep them out. A stew pot might be the answer, but I don't have the heart to do it.

Ginny said...

I do have wascally wabbits and they have eaten at least four of my beloved plants in the last month. I have no remedy - but I do avoid putting anything that I'm too attached too in a wabbit accessible spot!

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