Question
Hi,

We have several cherry Laurel, and they all seem to look okay except for the trunk.  It looks like the outside bark near the base of the shrubs have a gouge in it or something had been eating at it a while back.  I'm not sure if the cherry laurel is supposed to lose it's bark at the base of the trunk.  I know I saw rabbits in our yard.  My question is this normal for the cherry laurel to lose it's bark?  I can't tell if something has been eating at the trunk or not.

Thanks for any help?

Answer
Joan,

No, it is not normal for the laurels to lose their bark. I suspect that the culrit doing the damage is the rabbits that you see in your yard. I would recommend wrapping the trunks with bark wrap to discourage further damage.

Good luck,
Ed Gulliksen