shaggybirdman

well i got my sisters old veggie garden to plant some trees to fatten up. the problem is it's near a field that she says has mice running around in. imagine that field mice in a field

should i worry about them eating the bark off the trees? i was thinking of cutting down a 5 gallon homer bucket, and putting it around the base of the tree for protection, or the paper tape i have seen on trees at the nursery's on trees. or am i worrying about nothing?

i'm going to put them on top of a piece of tile to make the roots spread out. probably a 2'x2' piece. i'll stake out the corners with some pvc pipe to know where the corners are, and stake the tree as well. it will need it for a few years till the roots get past the tile, and anchor it in the ground.

JLDoggett

Shaggy, what size are the trees?

I have found most rodent damage happens in the winter months, when nice and other look at the bark and see a food source. I used to surround each tree with a cage of hardware cloth. I now use the cages with an inner lining of metal screen. The screen is needed because the mice would get through the 1/2" opening in the hardware cloth. I have since moved the potted trees (anything in a pot of any type) into a shelter as I grew weary of finding shorts stumps in the spring where there had been a nice tree in the previous fall. The cages are now only used on ground planted trees and stand 2' tall though I am thinking of using just the screening to wrap trunks for protection as the cages are a bit of pain to install each fall and remove each spring.

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shaggybirdman

they are 4' tall with 2" trunks. good idea, but rodents will climb wire mesh, and sometimes light enough to stay on top of snow in the winter to get to the tree. hmmmm what ta do.

shrimpy

Hey Shaggy
In NZ we have pulsing electric fences to control domestic stock on farms.
Also there are others to stop things from snails to Elephants and in some cases even people (but thats another story) these units can either be run on mains power or from a battery that only draws power when the animal completes the curcuit.

Shrimpy

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centaura

I have issues in the summer months of rodents chewing on my bonsai in search of moisture (they chew, someone suggested it might be after the moisture). I've managed to contain the problem by putting out small bowls of water. Its worked so far - I haven't had a real serious attack of rodent bites on bark in a while. Of course, I've also been known to put out chunks of mouse poison on trees that have been chewed on, to give them something with more substance to eat. Otherwise, I would recommend window screening wrapped around trunks or tree wrap for trees that will winter outdoors in an area with rodents. Putting poison out into a field would not be a good idea.

-Centaura

benibenzamin

Could any one help me for knowing in which way bonsai plants grow well either in pots or in ground

dankone

good idea putting the water bowls out there instead of poison. sometimes it happens that a poisoned mouse gets eaten by another animal, say a hawk or owl, then that animal then perishes. this is then like killing a an ally.

Phil

That's a pretty generalized question! Also, it is not polite to "hijack" someones thread with a another non-related question. Perhaps if you posted your question in the Beginners forum, but I'd strongly suggest that you be more specific. Simply asking what is the best way to grow a bonsai is a bit overwhelming to say the least, and more likely than not you'll not receive any response.

~Phil~

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treebeard55

What Phil said.

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treebeard55

Shaggy, I think Centaura has a good idea with the screen "shields."

I use unbaited, set mouse traps around my trees, in all seasons. They won't harm a tree rat seriously, but they'll sure get his attention!

Mothballs seem to repel mammals as well as moths, tho I'm not sure how effective cans of mothballs would be in the open field ...

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