The fastest way to waste money on trees is to plant them well and then let deer, rodents, or weeds kill them in year one. A few dollars of protection saves years of growth. Don’t delay — protect at planting.
There are three threats to a young tree, and you should address all three:
- Rodents (voles/mice) girdling the trunk and eating roots
- Deer browsing and buck rub
- Weed/grass competition for water and nutrients
1) Rodent protection — aluminum window screen + stone
- Wrap the trunk base with 24″ aluminum window screen (voles/mice chew through plastic — use aluminum). Wrap, bend, wrap again, and fold the bottom out so stone holds it down.
- In heavy-snow regions (N. Wisconsin, Minnesota, N. New York), go 3–4′ tall; 24″ is enough in central PA.
- Surround the base with stone/gravel (any kind — even shale). Stone deters voles from tunneling to the trunk and roots. Ryan repeatedly credits stone as “the only reason the tree is still here,” especially in fallow/goldenrod fields full of vole runs.
- This matters even more with tree tubes, which create cover that rodents love — keep the tube base clean and screened.
2) Deer & buck-rub protection — cages/fencing
- Use a 5′ welded-wire cage, 2″×4″ mesh. About 7′8″ of a 100′ roll makes one cage (≈13 cages/roll). Weave stakes down through the fencing.
- A cage ensures deer eat your fruit in a few years — not your tree this year.
- For trees grown in tubes, after removing the tube add a light 1″ chicken-wire sleeve so bucks don’t rub the trunk.
3) Weed/grass control — weed mats
- Lay a 2′×2′ weed mat at the base. Breathable mats last a long time; plastic mats help pull and hold moisture in high-and-dry sites. Newspaper works as a simple option on moist ground.
- Cover mats with stone to hold them and boost rodent deterrence.
- Keeping vegetation down around the base reduces rodent cover and water competition.
Tree tubes / grow tubes
Tubes speed early growth, protect the trunk, and — via daily condensation running down the inside — help “re-water” the tree.
- Ryan prefers slitted, form-your-own tubes (Tree Pro original): flat sheets that ship cheaper, form into a tube with removable zip ties, and can be opened to clean out lateral limbs and debris. (Pre-formed “miracle” tubes are convenient but you can’t easily get inside them.)
- Use tubes with standard-rooted trees. Ryan does not recommend tubing apples on clonal/dwarf stock — they won’t build enough diameter to stand alone.
- How long: apples/pears on standard root — about the first growing season (they’re up and out by then). Chestnuts and persimmons tube very well.
- Persimmons in tubes: lift the bottom of the tube and make sure growth hardens off by fall — anything that doesn’t harden off dies back.
- Remove the tube (about year two, once the trunk stiffens), then finish with a light prune to a single central leader and add a chicken-wire rub guard. Keep the base screened and stoned.
Bark protectors (Bark Pro)
- Bark Pro protectors guard the trunk from buck rub and rodent girdling while allowing the trunk to breathe and grow. A good choice where you want trunk protection without a full tube. (See product page for sizing.)
Trunk paint for borers (larger trees)
On maturing trees (e.g., chestnuts), paint the lower trunk with cheap white exterior latex paint mixed with Sevin dust to deter borers and sun-scald.
Putting it all together (Ryan’s finished tree)
Weed mat down → aluminum window screen around the base → flared out and held with stone → light chicken-wire or welded-wire cage against rub/browse. Done right, “this will probably be the last time I ever touch this tree.” Set up for success.
Key takeaways
- Protect against all three threats — rodents, deer, weeds — at planting.
- Aluminum screen (not plastic) + stone for voles; 5′ welded-wire cage for deer; weed mat for competition.
- Tubes work great on standard-rooted trees; keep bases clean; ensure persimmon growth hardens off.