Moose have eaten my rhododendron plant
by Dupie
(Ingonish,N.S. Canada)
moose and my plants
over the winter two moose have eaten the leaves off my rhododendron and the needles off my yew plant. I just wondering if we should get rid of the yew plant and do I just cut back the bare branches of the rhododendron
Doug says that this is one big garden pest! :-) The good news is that the yew will regrow from the trunk. So don't give up on that one. Whatever is left will resprout.
The rhodo on the other hand will require pruning. There's likely two schools of thought on this. The first (mine) is to let it grow as it will this year so it can develop energy after spending it to releaf. Prune next year.
The second would be to prune as soon as it leafs out - prune for shape. Do it right after it starts leafing out so you can see what's alive and what's dead. You may find that you can reshape it OK - (I don't know how far back this critter took it).
My concern is not that either of the plants are dead but rather the shape of them and making sure they develop enough energy this year to live for next year.
And next year - big tall, strong fences are in order!
Great pic by the way.
