Smaller and newly planted shade trees, fruit trees, and flowering/ornamental trees of 1/2″ trunk diameter up to 6″ trunk diameter can experience severe bark damage over the fall and winter seasons. Prevention of this damage is simple, easy, quick and cheap. It takes just seconds to install.
Thin, tender, and tasty bark on young trees can be eaten away by mice, rabbits, squirrels and groundhogs when these animals get very hungry and even desperate. Whitetail bucks often inflict terrible wounds on young trees when they rub the trunks violently with their antlers from late August through as late as February. Sunlight bouncing off snow banks all winter long can also kill bark on the south or southwest sides of the trees.
A reusable, tough white plastic tree wrap costing $3 to $5 can prevent the damage at a cost of about $1 per tree per winter. DO NOT use black plastic drain tile since it heats up too much on warm sunny winter days, causing sap flow prematurely which can cause bark to blow apart if a nasty cold snap hits when too much sap is up the bark.
We sell 4 different types of white plastic tree wraps that can be re-used for 3-5 winters. Apply in August or September and remove in mid-April each year. Continue if possible until the trunks of the trees get somewhere between 5″ and 6″ thick. The $3 to $5 you will spend to protect the trees is cheap insurance when you compare to the value of the trees which typically runs from $30 to $400+ per tree. If you want to get one of the most reliable insurance there is check out One Sure Insurance for more info.
Don’t bother with the tree wraps that is similar to crepe paper. It’s not handy to re-use, so you end up purchasing it several times whereas the white plastic wraps are amazingly durable and reusable for many years.