Posted 2008-04-25 9:09 AM (#82593) Subject: hibiscus, cherry, boxwoods dangerous?
Member
Posts: 25 Location: Southern Illinois
I'm trying to become educated on what to keep Sassy away from. One plant I can't find on any of the toxic lists is hibiscus (rose of sharon), but since we have some I'd like to know if anyone has seen them have negative effects on their horses. I definitely need to keep her away from the two boxwoods we have, according to the lists. Meanwhile, I have a young cherry tree that worries me. The lists mention specifically wild cherry and laurel cherry, but I don't know enough about botany to know if that simply means all cherry trees are dangerous or just those two. It's near a fence of hers. She can't reach it yet, but I'm thinking of transplanting it somewhere else: the trunk is only about 6", the tree is less than 10' high, so I think a small spade mover would do it. Any advice/experiences would be appreciated!
Posted 2008-04-25 9:58 AM (#82600 - in reply to #82593) Subject: RE: hibiscus, cherry, boxwoods dangerous?
Expert
Posts: 2614
I have a cherry tree in my yard.Not a domestic type cherry tree,but some sort of wild one.Late summer it will lost its leaves,and blow all over the yard and some into my pasture,but my vet told me not to worry about it.She said that they will have to eat quiet a large amount of cherry leaves and there isn't enough to worry about.Besides,mine have good pasture and aren't hungry enough.But horses being what they are,living trash compactors,they will eat stuff just because it is different.I would transplant that tree if I were you.
Posted 2008-04-26 7:34 PM (#82649 - in reply to #82593) Subject: RE: hibiscus, cherry, boxwoods dangerous?
Regular
Posts: 50 Location: Tamarack, PA, USA
My pastures are surrounded by wild black cherry and red maple, both of which you will find listed as toxic to horses. Their leaves blow all through the pasture and our yard where the horses graze. I have not had a problem in the 6 years that I have had my horses. I have read that your biggest concern should be wilted leaves being eatten, like after a storm and a branch falls into the pasture. So, I check after windstorms and otherwise don't worry about it.
Posted 2008-04-29 10:16 AM (#82787 - in reply to #82593) Subject: RE: hibiscus, cherry, boxwoods dangerous?
Veteran
Posts: 192 Location: Hutto, TX
Cherry laurel is a shrub, not a tree, and we used it in a landscaping in place of japanese yew because the yew is SOOOO poisionous. Doesn't mean that it's not toxic. Lots of plants are toxic, but if the horses have hay and grass they won't eat it. I have Lantana in my pastures and I leave it alone because the horses won't touch it (haven't even had the babies try it, but never trust a youngster!). Somewhere I have an article I put together for our local dressage and eventing newsletter for plants around Central Texas. I called the local horse vets and asked what caused them the most problems and the answers included plants that hadn't even made my list! Good luck!
Posted 2008-04-30 1:37 PM (#82854 - in reply to #82831) Subject: RE: hibiscus, cherry, boxwoods dangerous?
Member
Posts: 25 Location: Southern Illinois
Thanks for the article. I am not going to remove the tree, but I have fenced around it and will be diligent about picking up dropped leaves and branches.
Posted 2008-04-30 7:47 PM (#82865 - in reply to #82593) Subject: RE: hibiscus, cherry, boxwoods dangerous?
Expert
Posts: 5870 Location: western PA
According to Paul's article, in addition to the leaves, it is the caterpillars that live in the Cherry trees, that are the cause of the problems.
We were told by our vet, that Cherry sawdust was not a problem while used as bedding. This is an issue for us, because I used to produce a large amount of Cherry sawdust from my shop. After being told this, we mixed it with our Oak sawdust and shredded paper for our bedding. We've never had any heath problems as a result.
hibiscus, cherry, boxwoods dangerous?
