Winter is rapidly approaching on my northern Wisconsin farm , which means it ’s time to start prepping my vernal fruit trees for the coldest months of the twelvemonth . While they ’re busy dropping their leave and head into winter slumber , I ’m meddling strengthening their protectiveperimeter cervid fenceand — just as significantly — wrapping their delicate trunk with tree diagram guards .
Installing Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree guard is an crucial whole step to protect the tree trunk of your trees fromwinter girdlingby hungry critters — cony , mice , voles , etc . It ’s dissatisfactory to see a beautiful tree you ’ve carefully tended emerge from wintertime with potentially fatal barque damage . To invalidate this upsetting possibility , installing tree safety on young yield trees is a high precedency on my yearly winter homework checklist .
Tree guards come in a blanket variety of styles and material , and some are more worthy for specific pauperization than others . But for the role of protect in wintertime ( when the tree diagram are abeyant and not add together girth to their trunks ) , I ’ve discover that a combination of corrugated credit card guard and versatile fabric wraps serve my needs utterly .
translate more : Are you ready for winter ? This cold - atmospheric condition checklist will help you prepare !
Corrugated Plastic
Corrugated plastic guards are effective for guarding branchless portions of the lower trunk . They are tough and durable — no critter is go bad to chew through the plastic , at least not easy !
They ’re also fast and simple to set up . This is useful if you ’re wrap oodles of tree diagram on the last overnice day before a elephantine snowstorm . Been there , done that .
Cloth Wraps
Cloth wrapper might not acquaint quite as formidable a roadblock against hungry critters . But they ’re utile for wrap portions of the trunk from which branches are rise .
The textile wrap I use come on rolls and mensurate about 3 inches in width . Io installing them want wrap the fabric in overlap spirals up and around the trunk . This means you’re able to leave pocket-size gaps in the wrap reportage to let outgrowth through , permit you to protect most of the trunk while still accommodating branches .
For young trees with branch very dispirited to the ground , this is a helpful option to corrugate plastic guards .
It ’s also possible to wrap curving branches with cloth wrap . Ever since one of my young apple trees suffered sunscald on the south English of its outgrowth one winter , I ’ve taken to wrapping the lower portions of its main branches with clean cloth .
I do this in ordering to mull sunlight and protect the soft barque . So far , I ’ve been well-chosen with the effect — no more sunscald !
Read more : Is it too other to start prepping for winter ? No — and here ’s why .
Security Concerns
But whether you expend corrugated plastic or cloth guards on your tree proboscis , you ’ll require some fashion to secure them in shoes . For this aim , I ’ve take to using black electric tape recording . It seems to control its stickiness well over the course of wintertime .
Everyday promotional material tape , I ’ve discovered , is more probable to let loose when face up with wintertime weather .
Even unforesightful strips of black electrical tape measure run to remain in place when adhered to charge plate . To be on the dependable side , though , I wrap long funnies all the way around the tree guards so the tape can seal back over itself . This forms a everlasting eyelet that rarely gives way .
I ’m felicitous to say my yield trees are already wrapped for the get along winter . I ’m convinced my efforts will protect them from hungry critters . Now I ’m just counting down the day until outpouring blossoms emerge !
