30. Tree Cages

Low cost DIY tree protection from deer.

After losing a few new trees to deer rut, I decided to protect all my new young trees with cages. Here is how I did it:

Materials

Supplies

• 36in x 50ft Hardware Cloth 1/2 inch 19Ga Hot Dipped Galvanized (AggFencer Brand) - $58

• 4 inch zip ties - $4

• Metal Shears (Wen brand, Swivel Head, Variable Speed, 18-Gauge, 4-Amp) - $43

Preparation

I unrolled the hardware cloth and cut 19” wide sections using the metal shears. I had seen a YouTube hack for using the metal shears to cut the hardware cloth, and it worked as advertised. The one roll yielded about 30 tree protector cages. I had seen individual tree protector cages advertised for $8 each, or $240 for 30. Feeling pretty good about my $100 investment so far.

Make the cage

I pre-form the sheet into a tight roll, and then pre-apply four zip ties, equally spaced along the side.

Here is a close up of the zip-tie that gets woven into the hardware cloth:

Cover the tree

I work my self from top to bottom, sinching down the metal cages.

Here is a close-up of the cage:

The end result

So far I have enclosed 4 Sango Kaku Japanese Maples, 7 Japanese Cherry Trees, 2 Bloodgood Japanese Maples, and 10 Vine Maples. Fingers crossed this works!

My next step is to buy more hardware cloth in preparation for my street tree installation this winter.