Protecting Young Saplings from Deer and Rabbits

Why Newly Planted Trees Are So Vulnerable

A bare-root whip planted in November has almost nothing in reserve. Its roots are still knitting into the soil, its buds are dormant, and it cannot yet replace what it loses. That is the window in which deer and rabbits do their worst. A rabbit can ring-bark a two-year-old crab apple between dusk and dawn, and a single browsing roe deer can strip the leader and every side shoot from an oak in one night. By the time the leaves come through in May, the damage is often done and the tree is dead but still standing.

In a garden this matters because saplings are planted as features — a hedge of hornbeam, a native fruit tree, a small stand of birch. In the wider countryside, where hedgerows and field margins are being replanted, losses to browsing can run to a third of a new planting. The remedy is not complicated, but it does need doing properly, and it needs checking.

Reading the Damage: Deer or Rabbits?

It is worth knowing which visitor you have, because the two need different answers.

• Rabbits and hares: clean, angled cuts on shoots, as though snipped with secateurs. Bark gnawed away in a band low down, usually under 60cm. Small, round droppings nearby. Hares will also take bark higher up in snowy weather.
• Deer: torn, ragged ends on shoots, because deer have no upper front teeth and pull rather than cut. Browsing typically up to about 1.5m for roe and muntjac, higher for fallow and red deer.
• Buck rubbing: vertical strips of bark stripped from the trunk and damage to lower branches, usually in late summer and autumn as males clean their antlers. This can kill a sapling outright even where browsing has not.
• Voles and squirrels: shallow tooth marks just at or below ground level, often hidden under mulch or long grass. Worth checking for while you are down there.

Choosing Guards, Stakes and Ties

The guard must be tall enough for the largest animal likely to visit, not the smallest. For rabbits alone, a 60cm spiral guard or a 1.2m mesh tube is plenty. Where deer are present, you need 1.8m as a minimum, and the guard must be held rigid so it does not bend over and let the deer browse the leader anyway.

• Spiral guards are cheap, quick to fit and excellent against rabbits, but they offer no deer protection and must be checked for moisture building up inside.
• Mesh tree tubes give the best all-round protection, allow light and air through, and can be reused when the tree outgrows them. Fit them so the bottom sits just below soil level to stop rabbits pushing underneath.
• Individual mesh cages on three stakes suit trees in open ground or on a walk route, where a solid tube would look out of place and can scorch in a hot summer.

Stakes should be driven 30–40cm into firm ground and stand roughly a metre clear of the tree. Angle them slightly into the prevailing wind. Tie with a soft, wide tie in a figure of eight so the trunk can move and thicken without chafing. A tree that is tied too tightly will be strangled within two seasons, guard or no guard.

Getting the Ground Around the Sapling Right

Guards alone will not save a tree that is losing the competition for water and light. Clear a ring roughly 60cm across and keep it clear. Grass, nettles and bramble will out-compete a young root system far more effectively than most gardeners expect.

Mulch with well-rotted bark chip or leafmould to about 5cm deep, keeping it a hand's width clear of the trunk — mulch piled against the bark softens it and invites rot. In the first two summers, water deeply once a week in dry spells rather than little and often. A good soak once a week builds deeper roots; a daily sprinkle builds a lazy tree.

The Checks That Save Trees

This is the part that gets forgotten. Walk the planting every few weeks through the growing season, and always after gales.

• Push each stake to check it is still firm, and re-firm any that have worked loose in frost or wet.
• Loosen or refit ties as the trunk thickens, once in spring and once in late summer.
• Clear any growth that has crept into the guard, and shake out debris and snails.
• Look for browsing damage above the top of the guard — if it is being nibbled there, the guard is too short.
• Remove guards from trees that have outgrown them, usually after three to five years, once the leader is above browsing height and the bark has thickened.
• Replace cracked tubes and bent stakes before winter, when deer move in from surrounding fields.

If deer pressure is heavy, a 1.8m stock fence around the whole planting is more reliable than individual guards and often cheaper per tree once you are past a dozen saplings. Scent repellents can help in a small garden but need reapplying after rain, and deer soon lose their suspicion of them.

Planting Beyond the Garden Gate

If you are planting along a footpath or a field edge, give a thought to the walkers who will pass it. Keep guards visible and upright, and clear any that lean into the path. A well-guarded hedge on a country walk is a pleasure for decades — the same hedge left unprotected will be a row of dead sticks by the second spring. Whether your planting is a single rowan by the gate or a hundred metres of mixed native hedging, the routine is the same: right guard, firm stake, soft tie, clear ground, and a proper look at it every few weeks. Do that, and your saplings will get away from the deer and rabbits and reward you for a very long time.