Use A Tree Guard To Protect
Your Trees Against Rodents
And Other Animals

Planting time is the ideal moment to add a tree guard to help safeguard your tree from winter injury and bark chewing by small animals. In the event the temperature of the bark gets above freezing, water in the tissue underneath becomes liquid and starts to flow through the cells.

As soon as the sun goes down the liquid water freezes, resulting in damage to the cells and frequently kills off all the conductive tissue on one side of the tree trunk.

For newly set trees that are along roadsides and other exposed places, it is often necessary to protect them from automobiles, lawn mowers children and animals.

The best type of guards are those that are more or less open, so as to allow the free passage of air and which are learge enough to allow the tree to expand without difficulty.

If a tree guard is too tight it may shade the trunk so much that the tree may suffer when the guard is remove. It is also very important that the tree guard doesn't fill with litter in which insects may find a home. The instant the tree is old enough to avoid injury, the guards can be taken off.

Plastic guards are quite common but not a perfect solution. For the reason that some types fit too tightly to the tree trunk, which can cause the bark to remain damp, ultimately causing disease. If you utilize plastic tree guards, make absolutely sure they are forced down into the soil to a depth of 2 inches.

This will prevent voles from burrowing underneath to reach the trees. You may want to loosen the tree guard routinely to enable the tree to grow. The simplest way of employing a plastic guard is to take it off during the growing season and put it back again in the fall.

An alternative choice...

..is to place a hardware cloth cage around the bottom of the tree. Much like a plastic guard, it needs to be forced into the soil to counteract entry of voles. It ought to extend up the tree trunk to just beneath the first branch.

A couple of inches of room should be left so as to allow the tree to grow unrestricted. However the hardware cloth cage is not going to safeguard the tree against winter injury.

So in case you intend to utilize this approach you should paint the trunk with white latex paint, which will reflect the warmth of the sun just like the white plastic guards.

Limiting damage caused by deer may be more difficult. Deer typically eat branch tips throughout the year, but particularly in winter. One method of control is to hang a very strongly scented bar of soap in each tree in summer.

Deer do not like the smell of the soap and are discouraged from eating the tree. Since the deer may become desensitized to the soap over time, you may need to periodically change the brand of soap.

Tree Bark Protectors...

These tree bark protectors prevent Deer, squirrels, rabbits and woodchuck from biting or rubbing tree bark through this rigid plastic mesh. Trunks are shielded by open mesh netting, which prevents moisture and mildew build-up.

Also, the protectors won’t harbor insects and animals, and won’t inhibit growth.

These tubes are more attractive than other solutions and designed to blend in. Flexible and easy to install. They come in three lengths, 4" diameter.

Vinyl Tree Wrap...

Tree wrap give landscape projects an attractive, neat look while providing protection from sun scald, windburn, severe frost and law trimmers helping to preserve the moisture content of the bark.

The one here is made of two 30-pound layers of high quality kraft paper laminated with 25-pound layer of asphalt and creped to provide approximately 25-30 percent stretch to conform to irregular surfaces.

Measures 4-inches in width by 150-foot long; easy to apply by simply wrapping around the tree and securing with either tape or staples