Earlier this week, I discovered that my new viburnum bush had been damaged
by a rabbit. It ate a lot of the bottom branches. I was furious, as I
have been struggling with squirrels, now there's a RABBIT in town! So I
got my can of pruning spray ( a petrolium based sealer/water proofer) and
let fly. The goal was to make the little bush taste too bad to eat. The
next morning, I saw how angry I was: the poor thing looked like it had
been involved in a forest fire. It is dormant now, I don't think it will
suffocate. But will the black "paint job" cause it to get too hot in the
sun, then crack when it gets cold at night? Will a "tent" help? I can't
imagine how to get some of the spray off without hurting the bark. It is
only three feet high, and now lop-sided because of that over-sized rodent.
I'll have to trim off some of the ragged twigs, but that can wait. It's
still sleeping. Meanwhile, I'm looking for that scraggly alley cat that
used to hang around here...
