Use repellents to keep those rabbits at bay

I have seen some rabbit pellets in my backyard and have noticed some plants in my yard, particularly in my garden, that have been eaten. What can I do to keep rabbits away? - Sheila

A: Rabbits are capable of doing considerable damage to flowers, vegetables, trees, and shrubs any time of year in places ranging from suburban yards to rural fields and tree plantations. Control often is necessary to reduce damage, but complete extermination usually is not necessary, or even possible.

There are no toxicants or fumigants that are registered for use against rabbits. The use of moth balls, which so many people try, is not labeled for rabbit control nor does it work. There are several repellents you can use and they should be applied before damage occurs and after a rain, heavy dew, or new plant growth. Some repellents to try are ammonium soaps of fatty acids; taste repellents such as mint oil, garlic oil, Capsaicin, Bitrix. An odor repellent would be milorganite or Aikenite, which is a local product.

Habit modification and exclusion techniques provide long-term and nonlethal control. Remove dense, heavy vegetative cover, brush piles, weed patches, junk and stone piles in or adjacent to the landscape. Fencing made from chicken wire, with mesh less than 1 inch, can be placed around herbaceous plants. The fence must be at least 2 feet high with the bottom buried at least 3 inches.

Animal traps can be effective in the winter. They can be baited with corn cobs, oats, dried apples, or rabbit droppings. Traps are sold through garden centers, hardware stores, or gardening catalogs. Place the traps in areas where rabbits have been feeding or resting close to suitable cover. If the trap fails to catch any rabbits within a week, move it to a different location.

Camellia solutions

Camellias have everything you could desire in a plant: fantastic shape, form, foliage and flowers. Camellias are the pride of many Augusta gardens. Fortunately, camellias don't have many pest problems. Tea scale is probably the worst. The leaves turn yellow with the scale insects on the underside of the leaves. An oil spray or a good systemic insecticide such as imidacloprid (Bayer Tree and Shrub Insect Control) or acephate (Bug-G-Gon) usually will do the trick.

There is a physiological disease that might be inadvertently diagnosed as a scale problem. This is a corking of the leaves, known as oedema, which cannot be rubbed off the leaves like scale. This condition is favored by high humidity, cloudy weather, poor drainage, and excessive watering. Improving plant vigor is all that is needed.

The main disease problem, which commonly affects camellias, is leaf gall. The new leaves are larger, thickened, and pinkish-green in color on the upper leaf surface and the lower surface eventually will turn white when the fungus is releasing spore. Though more prevalent on Camellia sansanqua than on Camellia japonica, it might be seen on both. The condition is more unsightly than it is harmful since relatively few leaves on any given plant are affected. The sight of this cancerous-looking growth, however, sends many new gardeners into a state of panic. Fungicide applications must be applied for prevention, so control measures are seldom practical or necessary because the damage is done when the condition is seen. It seems to be worse under cool, moist weather conditions in early spring. Hand removal and destruction of the infected leaves is the best thing to do.

Sometimes camellia petal blight might be a problem. If blossoms are malformed with brown spotting and ultimate browning, you should be careful to remove all of them from the plant and the ground underneath. In doing so, you will interrupt the cycle since next year's infection will come form the fallen blossoms and plant debris.

Though it can be important to protect the tender varieties in the winter, a good cultural program and selections of hardy varieties are more important than covering with a blanket. Choose hardy varieties for our area and keep them well mulched. A sheet over open flowers on a cold night helps prevent some damage, but when it drops really low, nothing will help except maybe an electric blanket or a portable greenhouse.

SID MULLIS IS THE DIRECTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA EXTENSION SERVICE OFFICE IN RICHMOND COUNTY. CALL 821-2349, OR SEND E-MAIL TO SMULLIS@UGA.EDU.