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Tree protection:

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loneranger

Well-Known Member
I was thinking of getting 50 to 100 small oak seedlings but then the thought of how to protect them from deer. I have used the plastic mesh type stuff on a role. It works well, but for posts to hold it up any ideas? Cheap ideas? Reasonable ideas? I know metal fencing, the square type can hold itself up, but you would have to stake it down with something. All thots appreciated.
 
One option to get free stakes would be black locust. It seems to take over in lots of areas and people want rid of it so you could cut some free posts in a short frame of time.

Some nice wood stakes can be bought at Lowe's, Menards etc for about 1-2 a piece. Bamboo works great for me, but I use tree tubes so Bamboo is plenty sturdy enough for them until a deer monster trucks them. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
I just scrounge old woven wire from local farmsteads and use it like this pic of one of Timberpig's trees.

Fencedtree.jpg


No stakes are needed as the wire stands up just fine on it's own and it's all free with a little effort.

In the case of oaks I have no problem until they get 3-4 feet tall and then bucks attack them in the fall.

Browsing is not a problem as it can be with apple trees.

Just check around for old woven wire that farmers have cleaned out of old fencerows like this roll

Treeprotector.jpg
 
I have been using the 5' vented tubes for my oaks with 3/8 rebar as stakes. Rebar costs less than the 2x2 oak stakes and I plan to re-use them many times over. With steel prices coming down, you can buy 20' rebar for around $3, making the stakes about $0.75 a piece.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have been using the 5' vented tubes for my oaks </div></div>

How do you like those?

I use to use tubes but the bucks ripped the whole tube off the tree and then thrashed the tree! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crazy.gif

I suppose I could put them inside the woven wire but i wasn't happy with "hardening off" problems and some trees died when cold weather hit.

Just curious how yours fare? /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
I have had deer take on the wire also (lucky there was just a dented up cage laying next to a ravaged pine tree and not a buck running around with some "extra" head gear), so I would recomend the rebar stakes as well, its cheap and lasts forever. I started with wood stakes but they rot off before the trees get big enough to fend for themselves.
 
I personally have had very little trouble with bucks ripping off the vented tubes. The only tree they tore up was one that I had a rebar stake around and they bent it all to you know what. The bamboo/tree pro tubes have worked well for me and I add extra venting to the tubes with a cordless drill to make sure they harden off for winter.

The bamboo stakes last about 2 years for me and I buy the thickest ones I can.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I add extra venting to the tubes with a cordless drill to make sure they harden off for winter </div></div>

What size drill bit and roughly how many holes do you put in?? /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dbltree</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I add extra venting to the tubes with a cordless drill to make sure they harden off for winter </div></div>

What size drill bit and roughly how many holes do you put in?? /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif </div></div>


I used a 3/8th inch drill bit and just started adding till I thought there was enough. Probably 2-3 times the amount that was there normally.

I think keeping the bottoms well vented and clean also curbs mice from housing in the tubes along with spraying around the tubes. Keep bare ground in a 3-4 foot circle around the tubes and I have not had any problems with mice girdling anything.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I think keeping the bottoms well vented and clean also curbs mice from housing in the tubes along with spraying around the tubes. Keep bare ground in a 3-4 foot circle around the tubes and I have not had any problems with mice girdling anything. </div></div>

One thing nice about tubes, is that you can safely use roundup around the base with no worries! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dbltree</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> One thing nice about tubes, is that you can safely use roundup around the base with no worries! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif </div></div>

That is what I like about them the best, and they are much cheaper and easier to install than buying fencing for a couple houndred trees at a time. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dbltree</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have been using the 5' vented tubes for my oaks </div></div>

How do you like those?

I use to use tubes but the bucks ripped the whole tube off the tree and then thrashed the tree! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crazy.gif

I suppose I could put them inside the woven wire but i wasn't happy with "hardening off" problems and some trees died when cold weather hit.

Just curious how yours fare? /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif </div></div>

I really like the tubes so far. I installed them 2 years ago and had about 90% survival rate and 5% of the oaks poked out the top of the tube in the first year. After last summer, about 3/4 of them were out the top. I have not mowed around them yet but have sprayed each spring.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: treerat</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have been using the 5' vented tubes for my oaks with 3/8 rebar as stakes. Rebar costs less than the 2x2 oak stakes and I plan to re-use them many times over. With steel prices coming down, you can buy 20' rebar for around $3, making the stakes about $0.75 a piece. </div></div>


hard to beat that price!!! I will be looking for that over bamboo for sure now.
 
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