Whether you’re a farmer, gardener or landscaper, there are some very good reasons to use tree guards to protect your newly planted tree saplings. After all, when you have gone to the trouble of purchasing and planting new trees, sometimes hundreds of trees, the last thing you want is to lose them overnight. So let’s take a look at five reasons why protecting your trees might save you some money and help your new trees flourish.
Protecting new trees from farm stock
Planting new trees to help stabilize a hillside, reduce erosion, run-off or soil acidity can be a necessary, but overwhelming task for farmers. The amount of time, effort and money that’s involved is enormous, it’s a mammoth task! So when your sheep, goats or cattle are capable of demolishing your new saplings overnight, it’s a good idea to use a tree guard for every tree to ensure their survival.
Protect your saplings from native animals
Just about no-one has ever planted hundreds of saplings without protecting them from wallabies, because they are the scourge of new plantings! If you want to stabilize your land or you live on land that is easily accessed by wallabies in more rural or suburban areas, it’s best to always protect your new plants and saplings with tree guards or they won’t be there tomorrow. Wild rabbits can also devastate new plants and parrots are also frequent culprits.
High winds can demolish new trees
If you live in a coastal or hilly area that gets lots of high wind on a regular basis, you either need to stake the trees or use some form of protection against the damaging effects of these gales. Nearly 50% of newly planted trees don’t survive their first 2 years, so don’t leave your new trees exposed or else you will quickly lose half of them!
Passing traffic in urban areas
You often see councils protecting new saplings along freeways, roads and even pedestrian walkways in cities. This is all because drivers, cyclists and even pedestrians are often oblivious to these small trees, driving over them, damaging them and knocking them down. Tree guards are an affordable and very effective way to protect saplings in urban environments.
Damage from domestic pets
Dogs can dig up new saplings, and cat and dog urine can kill their sensitive roots. This isn’t such a problem now that most people keep their dogs in their yards and cats inside enclosures, but for farmers, it can still be a significant cause of tree loss. Protecting your new trees will help you solve these problems, keeping your newly planted saplings safe from damage by domestic animals.
Most popular tree guards on the market
Aussie Environmental tree guards are made from durable green corflute, which is a lightweight, weather resistant material that is made from polypropylene. You can select guards that are either 450mm or 600mm high, and they are sold in packs of 10 or 50. These guards are strong and re-usable, easy to install using only one timber stake and are UV stabilised. They are ideal for staking out new young trees or plants in areas where they can suffer damage from the elements, wallabies, goats, sheep, cattle or domestic animals.