Hop Yard is F'd

Thought I would plant some hops at my dad's house. I didn't really know what I was going to do for a trellis, then the neighbor said they wanted to cut down an ugly tree on our property line. I thought it was an awesome idea because I wouldn't have to go buy lumber. My dad was pissed because they were chopping his tree down. I told Dad my plans and I asked the neighbor to save me some of the straight tree branches.

The next day we planted the poles in the same spot the tree used to be. We didn't ask the neighbors what they thought.


It's been pretty cold outside and the hops were doing fine in a pot, so I let them go for longer than I had hoped.
[/IMG]

Finally got the hops in the ground on Saturday.
[/IMG]

Yesterday I went down to see how the plants were doing. F%$#ing paw prints all over, rhizomes laying all over, stems were all snapped off. Karma is a *****. It was our dog that did it too.

So I fixed it up as much as I could.


It was windy as hell last night so I'm afraid to see what it looks like now. Between the thunderstorms and the dog, my hops don't stand a chance.

Give them some water and see what happens. These are pretty darn tough plants.

I think if you wrap some ropes around the branches like guy wires you'll be fine. At least for this season. Good luck.

Hops are extremely toxic to dogs. If your dog or any other dogs are going to have access to that area, you may want to fence it off somehow. It causes Hyperthermia, and they can die quickly if they ingest them. Some folks on this site have lost their dogs due to this. Check out this thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/danger-hops-dogs-108663/

corwin6654 said:

Hops are extremely toxic to dogs. If your dog or any other dogs are going to have access to that area, you may want to fence it off somehow. It causes Hyperthermia, and they can die quickly if they ingest them.

Click to expand...

Yes, it is dangerous to SOME dogs/breeds, but caution is definitely recommended! The biggest risk is hop cones and spent hops, not necessarily hop rhizomes or leaves.

This is the best post I have seen on the matter:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f92/hops-dogs-63673/#post2613115

Actually, I think that's an awesome idea for the trellis.

Yeah I was thinking about blocking it off with some old tomato cages, but it seems like the dog hasn't gone back down there. I think she just saw me digging around and had to do the same.

@ChshreCat
Thanks. If the neighbor hadn't chopped up the straight poles it would look presentable and not like something from a Tim Burton movie.

lol little trellis of horrors. looks fine. dont think u have much 2 fear from ur dog. My daschund eats everything( really dandilions, grass, hostas, u name it) and she will not munch my hops though so i dont think urs will either. from wat i read the issue is with the cones. and they are only appealing when mixed with spent grains. could be way wrong but i say fear not