Deer Rub Guards for Trees

[Jonny Klobber]

Having just planted several trees that have trunks in the 2-4" diameter range, I'm looking around for some deer guards, as it's September and I know the bucks are going to start rubbing soon. I lost a nice young willow tree two years ago after it was completely mauled by a buck. I've used fabric wrapped around the trunks before, but that always looks so tacky. The plastic mesh guards I've seen don't look much better (I have a few of those around the yard on trees that came from the nursery with them included). Does anyone make a better looking deer guard? I'm browsing online now and seeing lots of ugly options. Just wondering if anyone has found a solution that might be a little bit more esthetically pleasing.

I know there are products like Deer Scram that can deter deer from eating your plants, but are these effective at deterring bucks from rubbing trees too?

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated, as always.

 

[oneeye]

Individual wire cages protecting young trees. Individual Plant Barriers – Materials are installed around each plant to prevent access by the deer. Barriers include tree shelters, wire mesh, Vexar®, drain tile, spiral wraps, paper tree wraps, snow fence, or other material. Google.

 

[Avocado]

Not sure how effective for bucks, but I used tree tubes to protect my young trees from deer browsing. But as my trees grew taller, deer ate the tops.
Regards aesthetics, it’s a poor choice though.

Now, I put t-posts and chicken wires around them.