Juniper hedge dying - Ask Extension
These bushes are starting to die, hoping you can advise of any way to help them
Knowledgebase
Juniper hedge dying #867870
Asked May 10, 2024, 11:42 AM EDT
These bushes are starting to die, hoping you can advise of any way to help them
Larimer County Colorado
Expert Response
Hi Cathryn,
If you take one of the brown branches and trace it back to where it originates and attaches to the main trunk of the shrub, do you see any chewing or damage to the bark? You could look at several branches.
This looks a lot like vole damage - and voles will often chew on junipers during fall and winter for nutrients. In the spring, the chewed branches will brown out.
What you can do is selectively prune out each dead twig - and put out mouse traps to potentially help control the vole populations. They do not need to be baited. See if you can find where they might be entering (or living below the junipers). Voles prefer moving in areas where there is cover, so putting a piece of gutter over the top of the traps can be useful.
If you take one of the brown branches and trace it back to where it originates and attaches to the main trunk of the shrub, do you see any chewing or damage to the bark? You could look at several branches.
This looks a lot like vole damage - and voles will often chew on junipers during fall and winter for nutrients. In the spring, the chewed branches will brown out.
What you can do is selectively prune out each dead twig - and put out mouse traps to potentially help control the vole populations. They do not need to be baited. See if you can find where they might be entering (or living below the junipers). Voles prefer moving in areas where there is cover, so putting a piece of gutter over the top of the traps can be useful.
