THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 31, 1995 TAG: 9512290120
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: REMINDERS
SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
IF RABBITS are stripping the foliage from roses, azaleas and other good plants in your yard, try spraying ``hot sauce'' on susceptible plants, recommends Brickman, the country's largest landscaping firm. The company says experience has shown a spray of liquid soap and Louisiana hot sauce works best.
Thiram and some aromatic soaps also deter rabbits, Brickman reports. Thiram works best, they say, but apply it up high, because rabbits can stand up to eat. If a snow occurs, rabbits will crawl on top of the snow to eat even higher up on shrubs.
One remedy I recently read reported that an apple grower had solved the rabbit problem by pruning his trees in mid-winter, then throwing out the limbs in areas where rabbits were a problem. Rabbits love apple foliage so they ate the pruned limbs and stayed away from more desirable shrubs. WATER IN WINTER
Spray new needled evergreens and all broadleaf evergreens (rhododendron, pittosporum, delicate hollies) with an anti-transpirant, such as Wilt-Pruf or Cloud Cover, and water them again during any January or February thaw, Brickman recommends. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ROBERT STIFFLER
Perennial favorite
Chrysanthemum pacificum is an excellent low-growing perennial that
is not often planted. It blooms in the late fall and is available in
yellow or pink.
by CNB