Protecting Young Seedling Trees from Rabbits and the winter

dawn30_2007

16 years ago

My daughter wanted to grow a maple tree from it's seed and she did. We have since planted it where it will remain. My first question is how should we protect it from the rabbits? Second how can we protect it during winter? I'm concern that it being so tiny (less then a foot), that the snow may damage it. We have thought about covering it with a clear container, but don't know it that would do more harm then good.

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Comments (6)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
16 years ago
trees do just fine in nature without your help .. thank you ...

you will kill it with a clear cover .. that's called an unregulated greenhouse.. it could be 100 degrees in there on a sunny day in January .. and then 20 below that night ...

insert a stake or two .. 4 ft high ... ... wind some chicken wire around it ... closing at the top ...

and walk away ... if it gets covered in snow.. so be it ...

the high stakes help avoid trampling..

the chix wire will stop the rabbits ...

water it well into late fall ... but don't let it get frozen into an ice cube...

and you should be all set .. ken
Dibbit
16 years ago
I agree with Ken.

Snow cover is more protective to young trees than no snow. Since voles and deer mice are active in the winter, I would have the lower section of chicken wire be of a fine-enough mesh that they can't crawl through and chew on the bark or buds - their tunnels are mostly along the ground, so it doesn't have to be too high. That height of the chicken wire will protect the tree from both rabbits and deer. Just be sure to remove it before the new growth of the branches grows through the holes in the chicken-wire, which will probably be a few years down the road. Once the tree gets to be over 3', you can probably assume the rabbits will leave it alone, depending on your snow-cover - if they can run along the top of the snow and reach branches and buds in winter or early spring, they might still try to graze on it. More problematic at that point might be the deer, both for browsing on branches, and for rubbing on trunks - chicken wire cages, the dimensions adjusted as needed, can keep both problems away.

As Ken said, trees have been growing unaided for thousands of years, but THIS tree is your daughter's tree. More likely than not, nothing will happen to it, but planning for the worst can frequently stave it off.
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dawn30_2007
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks so much. I wasn't too concern about the snow, more so the rabbits. We have lots of rabbits here, and that's my concern. I plan on getting chicken wire around it before winter. Right now, I'm just sprinkling red pepper around the area, and so far it's working. I just don't want to do that during the winter (there go the chicken wire).
jqpublic
16 years ago
If I don't have access to chicken wire for the time being...what is the best thing to use? My Dogwood and N. Red Oak seedlings got gnawed on the past few days. No leaves left on either. I doubt they would be total wastes...so for the time being I put cayenne pepper near the planting holes. I heard that works? AM I RIGHT??
lpptz5b
16 years ago
Another thought,If you have some old window screen or hardware cloth wire.Just roll into a cylinder.Stake in place.
scotjute Z8
16 years ago
I have also placed old tire around trees. So far that seems to have kept the rabbits at bay.
I typically use welded wire fabric about 2' high. It has rectangular openings about 1"x2". Make about 2'diameter circle around tree.

Protecting Young Seedling Trees from Rabbits and the winter

Comments (6)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Dibbit

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Protecting Young Seedling Trees from Rabbits and the winter

Comments (6)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Dibbit

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dawn30_2007Original Author

jqpublic

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dawn30_2007
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