Cherry Leaf Damage

[British Red]

We have been suffering severe damage to the leaves of one of our cherry trees and have been mystified as to the cause

Damaged Cherry Leaf by British Red, on Flickr

We have found out finally, but I bet someone here would have known what destroys cherry leaves,

So here is your chance to shine!

 

[Toddy]

Looks like leaf miner damage….from a moth larvae.

or do you mean the torn/bitten out bits ? Wood pigeons do that to our geans.

M

 

[British Red]

I do indeed mean the torn out bits. I thought woodie, but its only one tree.......

 

[Toddy]

No idea then. You wonder what would munch those cyanide-y leaves though

M

 

[British Red]

Munch them and enjoy them too.

Caught him in the act!

Leaf eating rooster by British Red, on Flickr

Stupid chicken

 

[Toddy]

It's supposed to give us shiny hair….maybe he's fluffing his feathers

Give him some nettles to peck to bits, that'll do him good too.

M

 

[British Red]

Stupid things get fresh stuff every day. They adore brassica leaves - which is great when you have picked the cauli florets or broccoli. The chooks go nuts for the leaves and stalks

Chickens on Brassica by British Red, on Flickr

But this guy seems to like the taste of cherry leaves for pudding.

Go figure!

 

[Goatboy]

Haha, I did wonder when I saw the picture. Chooks and ducks can be pretty destructive in the garden I found. The geese and chooks I kept were mad for Brussel sprouts (which I hated anyway) and kale (which is one of my favourite things). They also used to like hanging round the neep slicer that I used for the sheep and cattle. The neeps seemed to keep them busy for a good length of time though I found it flavoured the eggs a bit. Which they also do with the milk from the cows. As a kid I could always tell when the cows went on to winter feed as the milk tasted of turnips when I was eating my porridge.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[British Red]

Ours love kale too and especially chard. Not tried them on turnips but they will peck away at parsnips for hours. Wont touch carrot though?

 

[dwardo]

Do the leaves not contain organo cyanide? Just remember having a bad reaction from the dust when making a run of cherry bows. Pretty sure I looked it up but may have only been the bark and stones.

 

[Herbalist1]

Seems that chucks will eat most things - though I didn't know they avoided carrots lol . My grandfather had a large garden with a large potion of it fenced off for the chickens to roam free during the day. It was stripped of every trace of vegetation even though they got plenty of fresh stuff. Chickens will do a great job of clearing a patch of weedy ground and fertilise it too - if you can keep um where you want them, such as in a mobile run, otherwise you can garentee they'll choose to eat the stuff you don't want them to - like your cherry leaves!!

 

[NoName]

haha cool! thanks for sharing

 

[spandit]

Must mean you've run out of slugs in your garden. PM me your address and I'll send you a barrel full...

 

[Robson Valley]

I see V-shaped pieces torn out, not progressively chewed arcs such as caterpillars do. Not the semicircles harvested by leaf-cutter bees. Leaf miners would leave the surfaces intact, living in the interior of the leaf. Birds.