North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[david liezen <chandos49@hotmail.com>]

Ginda,
I haven't tried this - here in town I have no damage from rabbits - but it 
occurs to me you could cut a twig from whatever branch is damaged and "bridge 
graft" it over some of the damage. 
 
You might try splitting a twig and inserting each end into a slit in the bark 
on either side of the damage, tie off with grafting tape and look in on it 
each week to see how it does. By June I imagine the tape would no longer be 
needed, but you must be the judge of that.
 
Hope you save your apple grafts.
 
Dave Liezen

> From: list@ginda.us
> Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2011 21:38:20 -0400
> To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: [NAFEX] rabbit damage to apple trees
> 
> Over the winter, the high snow allowed rabbits to crew on limbs of my apple 
> trees. They have removed quite a lot of bark from the top side of many 
> major branches, and white wood shows. I really don't want to prune off all 
> the damaged wood if I don't have to. On one tree, a well-placed scaffold is 
> damaged, and on another, there's damage on almost all of the parts that 
> were grafted. (It's a crab apple with several eating apples grafted on 
> years ago.)
> 
> So -- Do I have to remove the damaged limbs? Is the bark along the bottom 
> of each branch enough to keep it alive? Or will it be weak and prone to rot 
> even if it doesn't die right away?
> 
> thanks,
> Ginda
> eastern MA, zone 6
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