For me, it is that time of year when the deer are out looking for love. The deer in my first year on my homestead didn't show my fruit trees any love. I had spent over $500 in fruit trees that spring and lost over 2/3 of them to Buck Rub.
During this time of year the male deer which is called a "buck" like to find small tree trucks to remove the velvety covering on their antlers in preparation for the mating season.
Photo credit : americanexpedition.us
What I like to do now is put up metal fencing around the trunks of all my fruit trees.
This has worked for me the past 2 years.
You may also notice I do a few other things to my trees as well but are not for the purpose of protecting from deer.
The first is the white pipe I have sticking out of the ground. I have holes drilled all along the buried portion of the pipe. I use this pipe for watering and fertilizing the roots directly.
The second thing I like to do to all my trees is for helping me cut my yard work time down and for decoration. What I do is cut landscaping timber into a pentagon shape. I then bury the timber just slightly below ground level. The timber below ground level is important for me because it makes mowing around the tree effortless. I don't need to weed wack and possibly cause harm to the truck of the tree either. I put weed fabric around the tree and add mulch to give it a nice decoration.
Doing all this can be a lot of work and I do have a few more trees to add the timber too, but it is well worth it to decrease my yard work time and adding a bit of beauty to the yard.
I hope this post will help some new homesteader from making the early mistake of not protecting my trees like I did.
If you have any other tips or tricks please share them in the comments. I am always on the lookout for new ideas.
Take Care Steemians!!
