How to Protect Your Trees from Deer

Deer love to eat trees. Newly planted trees need all the help they can get, but they are often a prime target for deer. Deer are opportunists and they will eat new and soft vegetation off of virtually any plant. Keeping deer away from your new trees is a straight forward matter that virtually anyone with some DIY experience will be able to accomplish. This can be done by following the steps below.

Four to six foot stakes

Plastic or wire mesh

Scissors or wire cutters

Staple gun

Rubber mallet or hammer

Drive three or four stakes into the ground surrounding your tree. You may need a rubber mallet or hammer to assist you. Use four stakes if the tree is larger. Three stakes will be just fine for a smaller tree.

Cut a piece of plastic or wire mesh to size. Use a scissors for plastic or wire cutters for metal mesh. You will be wrapping the mesh around the stakes. This forms a wall around the tree the deer cannot eat through. The mesh will let sun through, which is needed for your tree.

Staple the mesh to the stakes. Use enough so the mesh does not come loose easily. It is not necessary to use a lot of staples in your stakes.

Inspect your new shield from time to time to ensure your wall has not been compromised. You may need larger stakes depending on the size of your tree. You may need to move the stakes as the tree grows larger. Once the tree is ten feet tall or more, you should no longer need to protect the tree from deer.

Try deer repellent as well.

Watch for ticks! If you have deer damage, they may be tracking ticks into your yard!