When I first received my Standard trees several years ago they came with the white coiled plastic wraps. I had an issue the first year with something nesting INSIDE that wrap and last season the wraps had started to wear the bark off and had a chance to girdle the trees. On top of that, they were brittle and cracking so I removed them. I figured the trees were old enough to not need them.
And then I saw the posts on rabbit damage and I’m freaking out. (My trees are not here, so I go check them tomorrow)
I’ve seen others use the black drain tile piping to protect their trees and I’m wondering if that was put in place before the trees had branches. If not, how are you putting the piping on and still keeping mice and such out? (presuming you are slitting one side)
I’ve been waiting a LONG time for these trees to produce anything at all and this fall I believe I saw fruit spurs. I’ll be pretty disappointed if I go and find them girdled tomorrow due to my own ignorance.
I have used that pipe before and I think it is one of the best options available. It already has vent hole and I’m sure that it will last a long time without deteriorating. I guess one of the disadvantages to any cover is hiding insects/etc. If your tree size prevent you from sliding it over just use a box cutter knife and make one cut down the side of the pipe. Bill
Mice/Voles/What-have-you won’t work through the slit to have a field day? That is my biggest concern. I know nothing is fool-proof, but I don’t want to lull myself into false security either.
I’ve been using window screen for the past several years with good success. I use a piece 36 inches high and 20 inches wide. staple it into a “tube” with a cheap paper stapler. I cut a 6 inch slit in the bottom and make two “ears” to lay flat on the ground and use gravel around the tree to hold it in place.
I make sleeves with 1/4 inch mesh hardware cloth. Ive have no losses from trunk girdling with that. I close it using zip ties. i have do overlap so there are no gaps.
i keep thinking about also oainting the trunk with habanero-infused diluted latex paint, but so far no energy or ambition for that… I was thinking, just blend up a batch of habaneros in water using my blender, then mix sbout 50:50 with some old latex paint. Maybe add horseradish for extra zing. Never tried that, dont know if it would affect the tree.
I’m interested in the takes on putting gravel around the tree base. I can’t think of any real downside to that in a small area but would think you want mulch down once you get more than a few inches off the trunk.
I do have some hardware cloth I could use to get through this season and redo it with something else in the spring/summer. (The amount I have wouldn’t allow for growth beyond a few years so it would need to be redone anyhow)
Talked to my local orchard friend today and he said that when he was a kid they always put pea gravel down around the base of the trees so that was interesting to find out.
Went to check my trees after that visit and despite a gabillion rabbit prints around, they seem to be ignoring my trees. They have a wide selection of vegetation about to choose from though that gives them significantly more cover than my apple trees do. (such as a heavy row of pines with low branches they can sit and eat) I put a small section of hardware cloth around one of the trees before the lack of proper tools and cold made me give up for the day. (Chores at home to do as well, so I couldn’t be over there that much longer)
I’ve used the 3" and 4" black plastic corrugated drain tile as protector for a few years. I’ve tried cutting them several ways, straight slit and in a spiral, and the spiral is by far the easier. Easier to cut, easier to put on, and stays together better too (at least so far). I generally cut at about a 60 deg angle.
If you need to “seal” the cut, regardless of the type you did, I have found that tying it together with some copper ground wire. Wrap it in one of the grooves and twist ends together. Easy to take off and doesn’t come undone easily.
A chicken wire cylinder around the trunk is very easy to make. If you have small animal problems (mice, voles) then you could do the same with aviary wire. Chicken wire openings are 1-11/2" and aviary wire ones are 1/2",
Hardware cloth is 1/4" x 1/4" wire fence. I didn’t have a proper snips to cut it to proper lengths or heights. Further, when you do it’s a lot of little razors so semi-numb hands in the cold trying to manipulate it without coming out wrecked just wasn’t a sound plan.
You’re right about hardware cloth…even in warm weather and using good tin snips, I always end up bleeding when I try to use it. Chicken wire being more flexible is easier to use in that regard.
@Murky, there is some good evidence that mammals avoid capsaicin. Apparently birds do not mind it, although I don’t know if they prefer it.
Capsaicin general fact sheet. - “Most wildlife will avoid capsaicin because it has such a strong odor and taste. However, birds cannot taste capsaicin and will not be repelled by it. Capsaicin is toxic to bees and other beneficial insects. Researchers believe that capsaicin and similar compounds protect the seeds inside the peppers from fungus.”
Pest Management Science - field testing of capsaicin as a rodent aversion agent in poultry feed](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12974352) - " - adding capsaicin to poultry feed to reduce rat consumption of poultry feed - At all farms, consumption of the 2000 SHU [Scoville Heat Units] diet by rodents (Norway rats, Rattus norvegicus (Berk), and house mice, Mus musculus L) was significantly less than consumption of a control diet. - Rodents ate less of the capsaicin-treated feed. No comments about whether the chickens or their eggs came out spicy.
University of Nebraska - Effectiveness of Capsaicin as a repellent to birdseed consumption by gray squirrels. - Three ground-pepper treatments [three different heat strengths] offered simultaneously with control seeds to free-ranging squirrels revealed a dose-dependent aversive response. These same three treatments… on sunflower hearts with control hearts available were also avoided by free-ranging squirrels" They also note that an oil-based preparation was more effective compared to ground pepper treatments.
A little more peripheral to the feed experiments, tests of pepper spray on animals - From an article about capsaicin spray as a bear repellent - Tests have been conducted on 14 dogs, 6 house cats, a captive “wildcat” (presumably Lynx sp.), and an aggressive, rutting white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), all of which retreated immediately without aggression (Jenkins and Hayes 1962). Also, 6 trained dogs that were sprayed while fighting stopped within 20 sec and could not be induced to resume fighting " This does not mean that all hungry animals will avoid hot pepper in their diet, but it does indicate that these mammals have sensitivity to the mucous membrane effects of hot pepper. Maybe there is potential for that for dietary aversion.
I can verify chickens don’t mind hot sauce at all. We get leftover chips, refried beans, rice and lettuce from our local texmex joint and the girls love the sauce on the beans and rice and the eggs aren’t spicy:grinning:
Super…the black plastic corrugated drain tile is imo the best and cheapest option available. The screening works well, but does allow weeds and grasses to not only grow, but to weave their way up through it, making them a real pain to remove, furthermore grass clippings from lawn mowing stick to the screen like crazy. They also cost much more and take longer to apply. The drain tile will generally have a line (usually yellow) along it’s length, just cut along that and then (using your hands) pry open and slip on. Do this when it’s warm…when it’s cold or even remotely cold this is A LOT more difficult. The slit you created will entirely close up after applying, but if you like, it can be secured as others have mentioned, thin 3/16" black electrical tie wraps are easiest, but anything will do and really nothing is required. Save the bell end portion of the pipe for those with the larger crowns.
I use the perforated simply because of airflow, however a good argument could be presented in favor of the solid. Both cost the same. I’ve had no issues, but the solid may be better in terms of being less insect friendly. In my case, my trunks were already protected with paint combined with fungicide and insecticide. The pipe really provides good mechanical protection as well (string trimmers, the errant lawn mower etc). It’s SUPER cheap, highly effective, easy to apply and more aesthetically pleasing than you might think.
As for paint additives, I’ve often thought that micronized sulfur may be an ideal compound except for the (probably) resulting orange coloration. It holds the odor opposing attributes to chewing animals, along with it’s fungicidal and even bactericidal properties along with being a mild insecticide. I haven’t done it, but it seems reasonable. If I had extra available, I might blend up and add the habanero as Bear mentioned as well. Why not?
My only concern with using drain pipe is that it makes it hard to monitor for borers or damaging insects. Right now I’m using the same pastic mesh that MrsG uses and I’m happy with it but I think I will likely remove it during the summer months when rabbit/vole pressure is less and use a good thick layer of white latex paint and a tanglefoot wrap. Come fall I’ll reinstall the mesh or drain pipe. This is not a problem for me as I will have less than 20 trees.
