Protecting Plants from Rabbits, and more

The weather has sure changed this week.  The warm start turned into a freezing spell followed with a couple inches of snow yesterday.  In the suburbs rabbits will be putting increased pressure on your planted areas.  Buds and branch tips, especially ones just sticking out of the snow, are easy pickings for our little cottontails.  In the video that goes with this weeks post I'll show you how I installed a temporary fence to encourage the rabbits to look elsewhere!

Other things you might want to be thinking about is mulching your trees, especially newer ones to stabilize soil temperatures and retain moisture. Your garlic and other bulbs will appreciate a good layer of mulch too.  I just put 3-4" of old straw over our garlic.  You can probably prune most trees that need it, as well, but there is no rush as they will be dormant for a few months now.

If you are planning to change over any part of your lawn to garden beds; or the installation of compost bins or other things with posts in the ground you better get on it!  The soil probably won't be workable for much longer.

Have a great week!  Stay warm!