Connie Nelson says:

April 28th, 2008 at 3:58 pm

Judybusy,
Sorry to hear about your azalea. Rabbits can be nasty, especially when they’re hungry.
Since they’re already “pruned” your shrub, I wouldn’t do any more pruning. You’ll probably cut off some of the remaining buds if you prune. I’d let it go and see how it does this year.If the rabbits went crazy on it, you may have to replace it.
As for winter protection, I’d mulch it heavily (ie cover it with 8 to 12 inches of hay, straw or shredded leaves). You could also wrap a lose wire cage around the azalea and the mulch to give it extra protection.

Does anyone out there have another suggestion?

Heather says:

April 28th, 2008 at 4:39 pm

Over the last 2 winters, I’ve had rabbits chew on freshly planted maples, river birches, viburnums, witchhazels, serviceberries, a dogwood, and a burning bush. I feel your pain!
The hot pepper wax and smelly sprays didn’t work well.
The plants they haven’t gotten are the ones where I made a chicken wire cage. I used a 3′ tall roll of wire, left some space around the plants, and made a 6″ wide flange just under the dirt to make sure they couldn’t burrow under.
I’ve left the cages up year round, as it’s hard work to put them in and I’m sure it’ll be a couple of winters before the plants are less tender and appealing to the rabbits.

judybusy says:

April 29th, 2008 at 9:05 am

Thanks, everyone! I can now go to my partner and say, “See, it was a good thing I didn’t throw out that chicken wire like you wanted me to last spring!” (In her defense, I hadn’t used in 11 years….) The underground flange is a particularly helpful hint, and I will be building chicken wire fortresses around my azaleas this fall!

Ed says:

April 29th, 2008 at 12:19 pm

Dog hair sometimes works. If you don’t have a dog yourself, ask a neighbor for a bag of hair and spread that around. It’s free and does deter the little beasties.

Barb Denman says:

April 30th, 2008 at 7:38 am

Last year, after the rabbits and deer were eating every plant emerging from my gardens, I went to Home Depot and bought rolls of black-webbed “bird and deer guard” and laid it over my gardens. My next door neighbor thought I was crazy, but when my plants survived and thrived, while hers continued to be deer and bunny food, she changed her tune! I wrap this stuff around everything now, and it’s an inexpensive, and easy, alternative to chicken wire (ugly!). As my perennials are slowly but surely coming up this spring, I raise the bird and deer guard up an inch or so every few days. I just take it off after everything reaches full growth.