How to Keep Rodents Away from Bald Cypress Trees
Rodents like squirrels, mice, and rats can cause serious damage to bald cypress trees. Their gnawing and burrowing habits can harm the tree’s bark, roots, and branches. Fortunately, there are several effective methods to deter these pesky critters and protect your beautiful cypress trees.
Start by Understanding Why Rodents are Drawn to Cypress Trees
Rodents are attracted to cypress trees for food, shelter and chewing. The seeds and sap are food sources. The branches and trunk provide hiding spots and nesting areas. And the bark satisfies the rodent’s instinct to gnaw. Knowing these motivations will help you implement targeted solutions.
Keep the Area Around the Tree Clean
Pick up any fallen debris like leaves, twigs, or trash around the base of the cypress. This eliminates places for rodents to hide and nest. Rake up mulch that’s piled too high and trim overgrown ground cover. A clean perimeter discourages rodents from approaching the tree.
Prune Overhanging Branches
Trim back branches extending outward and downward from the cypress. Rodents often use these as access points to climb the tree. Creating more space between the tree’s canopy and the ground blocks easy entry. Periodic pruning also improves airflow and light penetration for tree health.
Avoid Feeding Birds, Squirrels, or Chipmunks Nearby
While you may enjoy watching wildlife visit your yard, feeding them near the cypress tree attracts rodents hoping for an easy meal. Instead, position feeders far away from the tree to avoid drawing rodents to it. Don’t leave excess pet food or ripe fallen fruit that could tempt pests.
Install Physical Barriers
Wrap hardware cloth, sheet metal guards, or other metal barriers around the trunk. This prevents rodents from climbing up and chewing the bark. Ensure barriers extend at least 3 feet up the trunk and are snug to deter gnawing through gaps. Check periodically for damage and repair as needed.
Apply Natural Repellents
Rodents dislike strong scents. Place cotton balls soaked in peppermint, eucalyptus, or garlic oils around the tree’s base. The smell repels rodents yet won’t harm the tree. Reapply every few days after rain since the oils dissipate quickly. Spreading cayenne pepper or hot sauce on the ground can also deter rodents.
Use Humane Traps
For serious rodent infestations, trapping may be necessary. Set humane catch and release traps around the tree overnight when rodents are active. Bait traps with nut butter, seeds, or dried fruit. Check them daily, transporting any captured rodents at least 5 miles away and releasing them in suitable natural habitat.
Call a Professional Exterminator
For recurring or severe rodent issues, professional pest control services may be warranted. They have commercial-grade solutions, expertise with rodent behavior, and can permanently exclude the pests. This is often the best approach for long-term control and cypress tree protection.
Why Go DIY? Rodent Control is Serious
It may be tempting to use homespun remedies like mothballs, ultrasonic devices, ammonia-soaked rags, or glue boards. However, these methods are often ineffective, dangerous for children and pets, or even inhumane. Traps and poisons also require meticulous use most homeowners lack. Save yourself frustration and risk by avoiding DIY approaches.
Monitor Cypress Trees Frequently
Regularly inspect your cypress trees, especially in spring and fall when rodents are most active. Look for chew marks, gnawed bark, droppings, burrows, nests, odd odors, and damage to roots or branches. Deal with any signs of rodent activity right away before the problem worsens. Early intervention is key.
Why Rodents and Cypress Trees Don’t Mix
Rodents like squirrels, rats, and mice can severely damage cypress trees. They chew bark, causing wounds that allow disease and insects to enter. Bark gnawing also girdles and kills branches or even the entire tree. Rodents also eat cypress cones and seeds, preventing regeneration. Their burrows undermine roots, weakening the tree’s anchoring. Protect your bald cypress trees from rodent destruction.
Keeping rodents away from cypress trees requires diligence and multiple deterrents. Maintain cleanliness, prune wisely, avoid feeding wildlife, use repellents and barriers, trap when necessary, and contact professionals for severe infestations. Avoid DIY remedies and monitor trees routinely. With a vigilant defense, you can preserve your landscape’s beautiful bald cypress trees for years of enjoyment.
Key Plant: Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum)
Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.) are deciduous-needled pyramidal trees that can reach 100 to 150 feet in height. They grow at a moderately fast rate, reaching 40 to 50 feet in the first 15 to 25 years. They are commonly found throughout the state of Florida, particularly near lakes and rivers (as they are native to wetlands along running streams), and can also be found throughout most of the eastern United States in USDA hardiness zones 5A through 10B. Growth is fastest on moist, well-drained soils in full sun. Trees are highly tolerant of drought, although they are adapted to thrive in wetlands, where they will develop “knees,” a distinct structure that forms above the roots. They will also grow well in upland sites with few to no “knees” (Gilman and Watson 2014).
This series of Key Plant, Key Pests publications is designed for Florida gardeners, horticulturalists, and landscape professionals to help identify common pests associated with common Florida flora. This publication, the first in the Key Plant, Key Pests series, helps identify the most common pests found on the Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum).
This publication provides information and general management recommendations for the cypress leaf beetle, fall webworm, cypress twig gall midge, mealybugs, rust mites, and needle blights. For a more comprehensive guide of woody ornamental insect management, download the current Professional Disease Management Guide for Ornamental Plants here or the Integrated Pest Management in the Commercial Ornamental Nursery Guide here.
Cypress Leaf Beetle: Systena marginalis
Recognition: Foliage will appear discolored, turning into a bright to dark red with small, linear gouges (approx. 1/10-inch long) in the needles. Adult beetles are small (approx. 1/5-inch long) with a pale-yellow head and body and black markings on the outer margins of the body. They congregate in large numbers in tree crowns and feed on needles. Larvae feed on roots of grasses and weeds.
Contributing Factors: Adults are active in June and July. Drought or other stress factors can bring on similar needle color change, so it is important to properly scout and identify beetles.
Management Recommendations: In the nursery, direct sprays at adults when they are found or apply larvicide to soil in grass and weeds around the nursery. In landscape trees, trees will usually refoliate in the same growing season and no control is needed (Jacques 1987).
How to Keep Rodents From Climbing your Tree
FAQ
Do cypress trees attract rodents?
How do you keep rodents out of trees?
How do you protect cypress trees?
What can I spray on my plants to keep rodents away?
How do you care for a bald cypress tree?
Choose the right location: Bald cypress trees prefer full sun and can tolerate a wide range of soil conditions, including wet and swampy areas. Prepare the soil: While the bald cypress can tolerate poor soil conditions, it will thrive in well-drained, slightly acidic soil. Amend the soil with organic matter if necessary.
How do you grow a bald cypress tree?
Prepare the soil: While the bald cypress can tolerate poor soil conditions, it will thrive in well-drained, slightly acidic soil. Amend the soil with organic matter if necessary. Plant the tree: Dig a hole twice as wide and as deep as the root ball. Place the tree in the hole, ensuring that the top of the root ball is level with the soil surface.
What is a bald cypress?
Bald Cypresses are big, bushy trees with beautiful, distinctive features. They’re one of only a handful of deciduous conifer trees in North America, and they’re usually among the first trees to drop their foliage in the fall and the last to leaf out in the spring. It’s this unique feature that gives the Bald Cypress its name.
Does a bald cypress tree have a taproot?
Bald Cypress Trees have a taproot as well as horizontal roots that do not tend to cause a lot of foundational damage. One unique aspect of the Bald Cypress Trees’ roots is that they can form “knees.” These knees are structures of the root system that rise above the ground as an extension of the root.