Trees that have been recently planted (sometime within the last fives years or so) – are much safer in the late fall – winter and early spring with a white tree wrap protecting the bark from sun damage, rodents, rabbits and deer. All young trees should be wrapped going into winter, however, it is very important for maples, crabapples and ALL fruit trees to be wrapped. These trees are more tender, and are more attractive to the rodents and rabbits. We have three different kinds of tree wraps available that are all re-useable for several years and a weed whipping guard for protecting the bark on trees.
We highly recommend that you use only white materials to wrap your trees for winter protection because white changes temperature far less during the cycle from night to day than darker colored materials. Temperature fluctuations if they are extreme can encourage sap to rise into the bark of the tree prematurely and when a cold snap comes this extra moisture in the bark can sometimes freeze and destroy fairly significant amounts of bark. I’ve often seen people use black drain tile for wrapping trees and while it does prevent bucks from rubbing their antlers and rodents from chewing, it may actually aggravate problems with sunscald damage or frost cracking.
When installing the white wraps it is important to try to fit the bottom of the wrap as tightly to the ground as possible. This makes it tougher for small animals like mice to do any major damage. We recommend wrapping trees to a height of 4′ or 5′ if possible. White wraps only cost a few dollars each and can save an awful lot of disappointment. Last spring we had a very sad and unending procession of customers coming in and telling us how their tree(s) got severely damaged because they were lacking a good wrap. Wraps should be removed in the spring and stored again until fall. It is important for the tree to be able to get good air circulation during the growing season and it also prevents insects from causing damage underneath the wraps during the summer.
