First aid for damaged trees ?

[snohare]

The wascally wabbits got into my garden, and nibbled H*** out of my 5 - 6ft high sheuched-in fruit trees down by the fence. Apples, pears and a plum - all damaged. I'm never too sure which is which unless the fruit is on them, so I can't tell you which is what. But what I am wondering is how can I give them first aid ?
A couple of them are just about ring-barked (nibbled all the way around which usually kills a tree) - but there is signs that bits of the underpart of the bark is still intact in narrow strips, which hopefully will allow sap etc to rise. What I thought was that maybe wrapping the trunks in fleece would allow the remaining bark to breathe while protecting damaged tissue against frost, fungal spores, etc. The damage is all above the graft sites, so there should still be the chance of getting a decent tree if it survives the shock, but obviously I want to preserve the upper part of the trunks if possible to help speed up future growth. Anyone here have any experience of this sort of problem, or read about it ?
The wabbits won't be back, I set the dog on 'em and now the gate's closed.

[Jeanied]

Hi Snohare - what little **** those wabbits are. I've never had this problem myself but is this link any use? I know I have used sticking plasters to bind up stems before now.
How to a Repair Damaged Tree Bark

[FB.]

If the top of the tree dies and you're fortunate enough that the rootstock survives, you will still need to re-graft the rootstocks to get proper fruit from them. For example; a pear rootstock is often a quince tree root. Some apple rootstocks are crab apple roots.

I believe that wounds on trees (except plums/cherries) are generally best left to heal in the air at this time of year, since it is too cold for most fungi to grow. After all; this is the time of year to prune many fruit trees and they don't usually need wound dressing for pruning cuts.

You could consider "bridge grafting", if you think that sapflow is completely cut off and you desperately want to save the trees, but they will not be pretty when finished. Bridge grafts could use twigs taken from the upper branches to re-connect the top and bottom of the tree.
You could also consider ordering a few rootstocks from a mail-order nursery (only about £2 each) and plant 2-4 rootstocks around each tree and graft them into the tree above the damaged bark, to reconnect the top with some roots.

Personally, if the trees are only 5-6ft, I'd just leave the trees and be prepared to replace them if they die - maybe even order a few better one's from a decent nursery; just in case.
Next time, make sure that either the rabbits can't get in, or that the trees are protected. Rabbits (and squirrels) just love chewing at tree bark and they can cause serious damage.

[solway cropper]

Not a lot you can do once the damage has been done. I think the theory now is to leave the wound open as it heals better. When I worked in forestry we would paint over it but times change. Some sort of tree guard will prevent the wickle wabbits doing any more damage but don't imagine that just because you've set the dogs on them they won't be back. They tend to nibble tree bark when there's snow on the ground and they can't get at the grass. Once the snow clears you should be OK but if it's likely to be a problem I'd loosely wrap a bit of chicken wire round the trunks.

[FB.]

Yes, just because the dog chased the rabbits, doesn't mean that they won't come back for another tasty snack. The rabbits will soon learn the times of day when the dog might be around - and the rabbits will then come when they know it's safe.
You need to either:
1.
Stop the rabbits gaining access to your property.
2.
Put a guard around the trees (watch out for anything in your veg plot; rabbits will have that too).
3.
Shoot the rabbits.

A friend of mine has a Christmas tree plantation and he does #1 and #2 - and I stop by periodically to do #3.

[snohare]

Wow, thanks very much guys for your prompt and wide-ranging replies ! This is exactly why I wanted to post before doing anything - I had not realised there was such a difference between the treatment of wounds with bark on, and those without. It seems I need a razor blade and little else.
The garden is surrounded by very rabbit-proof fencing, it was the first thing I did when I moved in. But Murphy's Law, either someone left the side gate open or it blew open, and I couldn't see it. It and the other gate are now fastened securely at all times...and I am researching recipes for rabbit pie.

[Nicos]

A few years ago we planted a 4yr old apple tree and staked it on the lottie.
We didn't go back to check it out for a few weeks but when we did, we noticed the CD we'd hung from the branches to scare birds off the blossom had been whipped around so much by the wind that it'd scraped off a good 1/2 of the bark. For a good 4" long chunk.
We did paint the wound as it was Spring ( didn't know about not needing to in winter FB!) but to be honest- although the tree survived it never grew as strongly as the others planted at the same time, nor did it fruit as well.

Perhaps the idea of replacing your trees is a reasonable one- how old are they?????

[Bigmallly]

I'm sure I read somewhere about Comfrey having the properties to heal broken bones & could be used on branches. Anyhow, I did a search & found this if it's of any use.

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ken-stems.html