Sometimes it’s hard to be an animal lover and a gardener, especially when it comes to rabbits.

As cute as rabbits look hopping through your yard, they can really mow down your vegetables and annuals in the summer. Then in the winter, they set their sights on your woody ornamentals.

Rabbits harm woody plants by gnawing on bark or clipping off small branches and buds. When the ground is covered by snow for a long period of time, rabbits can severely damage your landscape. They can nip young saplings off at snow height and girdle larger plants by eating a large amount of the bark.

The character of the bark on woody plants influences rabbit browsing. Most young trees have smooth, thin bark with green food material just beneath it. Such bark provides an easy food source for rabbits. The thick, rough bark of older trees often discourages gnawing. Even on the same plant, rabbits avoid the rough bark, but feed on and damage the young sprouts that have smooth bark.

What can you do? First, make sure you are dealing with rabbit damage. It can be identified by gnaw marks on older woody growth or clean-cut, angled clipping of small branches, primarily within two-and-a-half feet above ground (unless the snow is very deep). The average width of the tooth mark is about .08 inches.

Voles and squirrels also damage bark, but their marks are much more narrow. Deer also eat young branches, but they tear at the stems and leave a ragged edge, rather than a clean, angular cut. If you do have a rabbit problem, fencing and-or repellants are your best options, and now is the time to start protecting your plants. Most rabbit repellants are contact or taste-bad repellants and can be quite effective if used early and reapplied after each rainfall. However, in the dead of winter if an animal is starving and has limited options, it will eat even bad-tasting food.

Fencing is probably the best solution. A two-foot chicken wire fence with the bottom either tight to the ground or buried a few inches below the soil is usually sufficient to protect a backyard garden area or berry patch. Be sure to use wire mesh that is one-inch or smaller in size. Cylinders of quarter-inch wire hardware cloth can also be used to protect landscape plants. Make sure these extend higher than the rabbit’s reach while standing on the expected snow height and that they stand one to two inches out from the tree trunk. Commercial tree guards are also available at many local garden centers. But when rabbits are abundant and food supply is scarce, the quarter-inch hardware cloth will afford the best protection and can also prevent vole damage. Habitat modification is another helpful thing to do. By limbing up evergreen boughs that touch the ground, removing brush piles and weed patches, and filling in old animal burrows, you make your landscape less attractive to bunnies setting up house in your yard.

“Growing Green” is contributed by Lehigh County Extension Office Staff and Master Gardeners. Information: Lehigh County Extension Office, 610-391-9840; Northampton County Extension Office, 610-746-1970.