Question
This winter, the rabbits came back in force and ate all the bark off our 15 year old burning bushes.  I'm told "they're dead, cut them down".  Also told "they're tough, they'll live", and "they'll leaf out just fine".  Also told "cut them down and new shoots will come up to replace the rabbit nibbled bushes" (yeah, in about another 10 years, I can't wait that long!)  It's still early April and I'm waiting to see if leaf buds appear.  So tell me, what do you think? Will they bounce back? Should I cut them down now?  Any idea of what, if anything, I should plant in front of them to hide the stumps?  Thank you.

Answer
Hello Sally from Coach Dave, a garden expert for The Home Depot.

First off, rabbits as cute as they are, are not so friendly to shrubs as you have discovered. Let's start by addressing the rabbits and then the bushes themselves.

I like to use a mixture of cayenne pepper and Volck Oil or Neem Oil to keep the rabbits at bay. A application every few weeks should do the trick.. The Volck/Neem Oil will keep the cayenne pepper from washing away for a few weeks depending on weather conditions.

I mix about 1 cup of cayenne pepper to about 1/4 cup of Volck/Neem with the rest being water in an old shampoo bottle and squeeze it  on the plants main branches and surrounding ground.

Without at least seeing a photograph of the condition of the bushes I cannot give you a definite answer. If you could cut a few of the top branches and see if there is soft material there is still life in the plant. As you stated in your post the amount of time could vary and replanting might be the easiest option.


Happy Gardening

Coach Dave