Green Corridor Tree Guards

The tree guards are needed to protect the trees from being eaten by rabbits and small mammals who like the young growth at the bottom of the stem. If allowed access to the trees they will nibble through and the trees will be lost.

Also, having the tree guards lying around on the ground is not what we want as they can become more of a hazard to other wildlife and the environment if they are lying on the ground and not filled by a tree, particularly if they are blown around if we get any wind. The trees, whilst they look a little choked, will do absolutely fine with the tree guards and the tree guards often create a bit of warmth which also helps the trees to grow and speeds up their growth – like a mini green house.

We don’t intend the trees to be in the guards for too long as we don’t think we have a serious problem with deer, so the rabbits and mice are probably their biggest threat currently. We do know there are rabbits around and as we create more grassland habitat with long grass across the green corridor we will increase the small mammal population and put the trees at increased threat from these creatures. They will happily eat the grass and other vegetation if they can’t get to the trees.

Conservation is all about balancing priorities and conflicts between making the best of difficult scenarios and using the tree guards was the best we could do in this situation.

Please get involved when we think the trees are ready and we host some ‘free the trees’ days in the future when we can collect in all the guards and ensure that it doesn’t cause a problem. Thanks to anyone who is replacing the odd cane and guard as they walk around – the trees need just a bit of help for now.