Apple Trees - Cage Individually or Perimeter Fence Entire Area ?

nrowles

5 year old buck +
Since I want to get this done rather soon and I'm not currently aware of any used rolls of fencing, I'm planning to go to tractor supply for a 100' roll of 5' welded wire which would give me a 6' cage for each tree. However, a buddy of mine has a large amount of 8' fencing previously used that I could get for a good price or at most the same I would have in caging each tree. He previously told me if I'd help him work on his car he'd give me enough for a dog kennel so I could probably actually save a few bucks doing it this way.

Taking cost out of the equation, would your preference be to 6' diameter cage each tree .................or................. 8' high fence around entire perimeter leaving a 6' buffer around tree edges to mow? What are the pros and cons when comparing the two options?

Also as typing this I realized I could cut down his 8' fence for 5' high cages if needed which could be an option for saving some coin if I go the individual cage route.

Another edit I just thought of. If I perimeter fence the entire area, the deer wouldn't be coming in for any apples until they are 10+ years old and can have the cages removed. I don't think I like that idea.

Sorry for all the random edits.
 
You're going to need to protect the trees from buck rubs pretty much forever.
 
Depends on what you want the trees to do.... and when. Best thing for the trees would be their own private fenced orchard; and with larger dia cages it doesn't take much math to figure out you could fence in an area for the trees and have ample room to train you trees. Apple drop will for the time the trees are protected be in the fenced area... and deer can/may/might get in by jumping, its crazy how high they can jump.

Are the trees for deer or you or both??

Start moving apples and maybe you could be charged with baiting???? Here in Wi where Im at that could happen.

I've seen pics of smaller plantings/clusters of trees caged in an enclosure. A smaller number of trees and you could do that.. give them 10 years and pull the perimeter fence . For me its just not practical for most of my plantings, I have a grape vineyard area which I have apple trees in and its is so much nicer to work on those trees without cages and those trees look great. I have some larger area cages and thats ok to work in ... in those each tree has 28' of fencing and there is where I could have fenced in a large area.
The smaller cages really sacrifice your lower branches on the tree. There is just no great way to have lower branches under 5 foot on the trees with small cages and I dont mind them as they can be used to keep the bucks off the main trunk.


"You're going to need to protect the trees from buck rubs pretty much forever." thats a legit statement ....

I leave 1 to 2 T post in the ground a foot away from the trunk of my trees after I pull the cages and fingers crossed that has kept the bucks at bay even on the back side of the tree away from the ones I have a single t post in the ground. Move that post out to 2 feet and bam the trees have been hit. Its voo-doo magic - I cant explain it but it has worked.
 
Unless your talking 8’ perimeter fence individual fences are way more cost effective.
 
I take this back sort of, you could get by with a shorter fence if you leave a dog in it to chase the deer away more or less how my orchard at the house survived as young trees I had a roaming hound protecting them.
 
Looking back on it, for our main orchard, it would have been better to fence the whole thing. Fencing with a HIGH fence would also probably keep bears out of it better than individual cages - at least for the main orchard. Once the trees grow to a safe size, so if a bear climbed any, they'd still survive - the fence could be taken down I'd suppose. The outlying apple & crab trees would still need to be caged individually. Those were planted with tree stand hunting in mind.
 
IF you cut the 8 down to 5 ,keep the 3ft pieces. Perfect to get red dogwood or spruce trees started without the rabbits, woodchucks, and deer nibbling them.
 
I fenced an 80' X 120' orchard in 2008 with 2"X4"X72" (6') welded wire fencing. I had planned on running horizontal wiring with 1" white poly tape above that as a visual deterrent but never quite got around to it. We have a fairly high deer density as well as bear density and (knock wood) there has never been a deer or bear inside of this orchard.

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My wife's garden is adjacent to the orchard and also has 6 foot high welded wire fencing and there has never been a deer in the garden either....
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A few years ago I started planting some crabapple trees rather than full sized apple trees. Fencing was scarce around here that year and all I could get was 4' high welded wire and/or 3' high chicken wire. I used a little of both. The trees inside the 3' tall chicken wire never got any taller than 3'...
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while those in the 4' cages all managed to keep growing, even though they were browsed somewhat.
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Here you can see several that were in 3' cages and one in a 4' cage in the background...
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3 years ago I planted some seed from wild crabapples and got them out of the 4' tubes and up to the tops of 5' cages in a little over 2 years. I plan to prune these so there are no branches below 4-5 feet above ground. Since I made these cages narrower, I may have to take some off of the top of them. This wouldn't be an issue if the cages were wider but 50' of 5' welded wire is now up to $95/roll so I am trying to save where I can.
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Full sized apple trees I have always planted in large cages - 20 feet of 6 foot high fencing, but truthfully, I wish I had just used 5' high fencing for everything. Having used everything from 3 foot to 6 foot tall cages for individual trees, I wish I would have just used 5' as it seems to be the best height. In fact, I am converting many of these 6' tall cages (which have been used many times over since 1995) to 5' tall, 3' diameter cages for crabapples.
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With smaller cages I do experience a lot of bear damage. I have probably lost 25-30 apple trees to bears over the years. I had 5 years invested in this Honey Crisp...
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and this bear trashed it in less than a minute...
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Used to keep rocks in my treestand up north to shew away bears. Rather bring a 22lr with me to shoot grouse and rabbit than take a bear, if it were legal in NY.

But, with trees up there. Might be some dark red steaks on the barbie.

They say Kerr makes good branch angles. I am think ob possibly doing open center and seeing how it responds to bear damage.
 
Wild Thing -

Your orchard and your wife's garden look great. Real nice set-up. Trees look great in the big orchard.
 
Wild Thing -

Your orchard and your wife's garden look great. Real nice set-up. Trees look great in the big orchard.
Thanks BnB - Now I need to start giving a little more TLC to my crabapples.
 
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