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nafex - [NAFEX] Ribes - deer palatability, not here

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  • From: "Jim Fruth" <jimfruth@charter.net>
  • To: "NAFEX" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Ribes - deer palatability, not here
  • Date: Wed, 13 May 2009 07:55:15 -0500

Ernest Plutko wrote, "Deer have never bothered my currants and gooseberries but mice and voles will strip bark and kill plants."

That's interesting because the critters have never bothered any of my Ribes (Red Currants, two varieties of Black Currants and several varieties of Gooseberries). I just sort of assumed that rodents don't like Ribes.
Could it be that the two to four inches of pine needles I mulch them with keeps the rodents at bay? Possibility? I don't know, but after reading Ernest's post, I'll keep mulching with pine needles.
The only bark stripping damage I've experienced here was a fence climbing rabbit that mowed my young peach trees one winter. Now I use spiral wrap on all fruit trees that don't yet have crusty bark.
That rabbit? I wouldn't have believed it until I saw rabbit tracks in the new snow. The tracks came up to the 1" x 2" woven wire fence and tracks led away. If that rabbit didn't climb the fence, then someone lifted him over but there was only rabbit tracks.

Jim Fruth
Brambleberry Farm
Pequot Lakes, MN 56472
For jams, jellies, syrups and more:
www.jellygal.com
1-877-265-6856 (Toll Free)
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