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Pesky possums - help required
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Posted by MtNebo_Jackie SE Qld, ranges, (My Page) on Tue, Aug 2, 05 at 21:11
| Hi All
I went up to the garden to take a photo of my first rose - Stainless Steel - and to pluck her for a vase, only to find that the flower has been eaten and that several of my other newly-planted roses have been shorn. We assume it is possums - we usually feed a mother and her annual off-spring this time each year and we also have two rogue males that she chases off from time to time.
Searching through the forum it seems that the only solution that anyone has suggested is removing the possums. Has anyone tried birdnetting or wire frames? Happy to remove the males but would miss mum and bub.
BTW I was most impressed with SS - she looked just like her picture, had a lovely perfume and a really long stem. She struggled to open from bud (those cloudy days) but was perfect once she did - and now I don't even have a photo to remember her by :(
Jackie |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Pesky possums - help required
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| Hello Jackie, I've found that a temporary fence made from plastic trellis and bamboo stakes works wonders keeping out possums, scrub turkeys and bandicoots. Yes, we had all three last spring. If the 'fence' is loose and floppy the possums will not climb it. It doesn't look the greatest but your roses will. Think I may have to re-erect it as the bandicoot is digging out bulbs and seedlings. Anyone with bandicoot prevention ideas for a large area? Hazel. |
RE: Pesky possums - help required
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- Posted by Vee71 Brisbane (My Page) on
Tue, Aug 2, 05 at 23:47
Jackie
I have the same problem. Found two half chewed buds on the ground on Saturday morning and spent the rest of the morning sulking. I have sprayed a product called SCAT which is supposed to deter birds and possums but am not feeling too optimistic as yesterday there were crows flapping about in my rose beds. Good luck..
V |
RE: Pesky possums - help required
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| I have the same problem and use "Poss Off" which you can buy at Big W. I have found it saved me last year and I need it again now!!! I love them too but not when they eat all my leaves and the buds! Brissy |
RE: Pesky possums - help required
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We have problems with hares damaging young roses in particular. They tend to eat/strip bark on bare rooted newly plants often resulting in dieback.However they also eat new shoots and flower buds.Maybe some of you are having nocturnal visits from some of these little takkas.
Oh well they taste good if you can catch'em. Otherwise electric fences set low to ground are highly effective deterents.I can't stand the look of them but once the new bushes are larger and established they can be removed.
Mr Thrip |
RE: Pesky possums - help required
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| We've got rid of ours by putting plastic collars on the trees (after destroying the nests, possums were killing the trees as well as the roses). |
RE: Pesky possums - help required
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Jackie I cannot help with your possums problems.
But sorry to hear that the rose has been eaten what a shame
Thank goodness Roses are such a forgiving plant so Cheer Up
And it wont be long before your SS rose is blooming again looking forward to the Pics.
Cheers...MM |
RE: Pesky possums - help required
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| Blood and bone sprinkled around the plant is supposed to repel rabbits and hares - it is worth a try for the possums and will do the plant good at the same time! There is a liquid blood and bone that can be sprayed on the foliage. Good luck! |
RE: Pesky possums - help required
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| Hi All Thanks for all your advice - I can really relate to the sulking, V, we really get emotionally involved with these roses, don't we?!! We went for a mechanical deterrent rather than a chemical one. Each of the shrub roses has its own barricade of stakes and wire mesh - I guess that's the advantage of only having 20 and not 200 like some of you ;) The only exception is Tatjana - my is she thorny - I guess she can look after herself. She gets a 7 on the MGR thorny scale (a point I overlooked when ordering her) but I don't see how any rose could get more. As you say, Hazel, the barricades don't look too aesthetically pleasing but hopefully they're temporary and can be removed once the bushes are more established and the rose garden is off the possums' tucker lists. Thanks, MM, for the condolences over the loss of my first flower. I'm certainly looking forward to reaping the rewards of the past year's labour and photos will be forth-coming in due course :) Jackie |
RE: Pesky possums - help required
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| Oh, yes, I do feel so sorry for you and the possum problem. Ours eat the new buds off my ramblers along the fence and the only thing I could suggest is to give the possums their own little restaraunt somewhere else in the garden well away from the roses...that is, if you have such a place! They can certainly learn new habits...and can smell a banana or apple from quite a distance, I've discovered. Good luck Jackie. Janine |
RE: Pesky possums - help required
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| My parents have a small garden courtyard backing onto bushland. Possums kept eating the buds of many different flowers until someone suggested my parents leave the outside lights on all night. They did this, albeit with very strong globes, and the possums went elsewhere. Obviously this would only work in a small area. |
RE: Pesky possums - help required
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- Posted by rross NSW Aust (My Page) on
Wed, Nov 23, 05 at 19:59
| I second the lights-on strategy. Last summer the roof garden I was tending was being gobbled by some nocturnal animal/s. The only bits that came out of it semi-o.k. were where there were strong lights shining all night. |
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