How To Protect Tree Seedlings

Protecting your seedlings from deer browsing is absolutely vital.  Deciduous trees are a bit more forgiving if they are browsed, as they will establish a new leader and continue to grow.  However if the seedling is continually browsed, this can permanently stunt the tree.  Conifers can easily be killed by the deer eating the top bud.  

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If you are just planting a few trees, a wire fence cage can be used, but it must be firmly staked and attached, or deer will push it over or pull it out to get to the tender seedling inside.  Use a fairly thick and sturdy wire fence for this purpose.  Unfortunately, this can be very expensive if protecting more than just a few trees.

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Typical restoration plantings use what are called "tree tubes" to protect young seedlings.  These can be ordered online.  There are a few different options available.  We recommend avoiding plastic mesh tree tubes, as bucks will use their antlers to pull them out of the ground.  The best option is a solid tree tube with open air slats, like this version found online.

Rabbits are another common tree seedlings muncher.  When the tree seedling is young, rabbits are known to eat the seedling to the ground, and can completely kill the seedling.  (Whereas deer are more likely to browse off the tip, from which a young deciduous tree can at least recover.)

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Fortunately, the same protection used to keep deer away are also very useful for keeping rabbits away from a young tree seedling.  Just note, that if using a wire mesh cage, it needs to have fairly small openings, as young rabbits can slip through some fairly small spaces.  Again, a tree tube will protect from rabbits as well as deer quite effectively.

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Unfortunately, while a tree can be safe from deer browsing once it reaches a height above their reach, a rabbit will still eat the tree bark/cambium layer of a young tree, effectively girdling the tree and killing it. 

In restoration projects where large numbers of trees are planted, they simply rely on the large numbers of trees and wild predators to control the rabbit population to mitigate the overall damage. 

If there are fewer, more important trees planted out, then once the tree tube is removed you may consider putting on tree guards for a few more years until the bark hardens sufficiently that rabbit damage is no longer a concern.

Voles can be the arch-nemesis of tree lovers!