caging white pines?

[bigboreblr]

Planted some white pines for a quick neighboring house screen for my in-laws. I saw that they got a nibble or two on them. So, I caged the important ones ( line of sight with new house out back) and left a few uncaged with leftover fencing. How bad do deer browse them. This area my wife's oldest son wrecked trying to grow sunflowers in the middle of the summer 2 years, so I put white n red clover in. Deer show up there every night.

I have uncaged white spruces in this open area that dont get beaten up too bad by deer.

Was debating leaving a few uncaged as an experiment, or buying more expensive fencing...... I am ordering more trees than I need in the spring from the state nursery. At worst, loose a years growth.

 

[bwoods11]

I’d cage every one if possible!

 

[Tree Spud]

The wrong time to cage them is after you have discovered they have been rubbed or browsed.

 

[j-bird]

From what I have seen is that deer will first eat the softer growth from this year....then as the winter progresses the deer will eat more and more of what they can reach. If the trees are small you could be left with chewed up sticks.... Deer like the sap from them as well. Then what they don't eat...they will often rub to death. To get the best growth results....I would cage as many as you can. Spruce trees tend to have stiffer needles and the like vs a red or white pine. As such they will abuse the pine more readily than a spruce...but they can and will beat up a spruce.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I can give you 1500 reasons to protect them. I spent a couple weekends planting 1500 24" seedlings, after the first winter, I could find about a dozen, the rest were finished off that next winter. I can get free ones now from my brother, but until I get the cages to protect them, I am not going to waste my energy transplanting them. With the cost of a roll of fence now days, I may wait a couple more years.

 

[ChrisA]

Fully agree with everyone here……cage as many as you can. I have exclusively planted white pine and white spruce along my borders, around 175 two footers. The deer went after the white pines way more than the white spruce, and if they didn’t eat them, the bucks rubbed them. We finally got smart by year three and caged them, but it was a costly mistake in the end. I used to question all the cost for cages, but after watching the carnage stack up, I will never plant them without cages again.

 

[TheGroveEstate]

I too learned the hard way, and vowed to never leave one of my trees unprotected. It’s too much work planting, watering, weeding, mulching, even mowing around takes away time - to let them get destroyed in one evening by a buck. At this point I’ve spent WAY more on the caging than the actual trees - but I can keep repurposing and I gain peace of mind until rut is over, or in the case of white pine until early Spring hits.

 

[Native Hunter]

Even in my area where deer density is not all that high, very few white pines will survive browsing without protection. Even if they do survive browsing, they will be a target for rubbing. The only ones I have ever had survive without caging were some that had lots of briers come up around them. Thick briers will deter deer, but the flip side is that you have to keep the tops of the pines open or the briers with tangle and kill the trees.

 

[SD51555]

The only way I wouldn't cage them is if there are un-browsed natural white pines all over. White pine is one of those trees that in most situations where providing protection should be non-negotiable like most anything other than maybe spruce.

I planted some on my lawn to screen from the road. All got cages, mats, and mulch. I didn't enjoy the project, but I really wanted some white pines in the yard.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Interesting how some of you guys have deer eat your white pines. Not around our place. They don't get touched here. We've had hundreds & hundreds of white pine seedlings growing naturally, and not a nibble. Different regions - different food preferences, I guess. We pull our WP seedlings so they don't overrun our open areas or other planted trees & shrubs. Bucks don't rub WP here either. Pitch pine and hemlocks - yes - they get rubbed.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

At my place they will eat, or pluck out white pines like candy. My brothers, 40 miles east, his property is full of white pines, and dont see any browse on them. I am going to pull out and replant a bunch here. But unless I cage them, none will survive a year. So I need to invest in some way over priced cages.

I just checked TSC $199 for 100 feet of 5 foot fence. I paid $86 last spring.

 

[TheGroveEstate]

At my place they will eat, or pluck out white pines like candy. My brothers, 40 miles east, his property is full of white pines, and dont see any browse on them. I am going to pull out and replant a bunch here. But unless I cage them, none will survive a year. So I need to invest in some way over priced cages.

I just checked TSC $199 for 100 feet of 5 foot fence. I paid $86 last spring.

I just paid $223 per roll for 10 gauge remesh wire @ 5’ x 150’ rolls. Got it from a building products supplier this summer. Just had to get over the price and do it. I caged 150+ trees in a month. Huge investment - but the reality is that pricing isn’t going back down. I believe this is the new norm unless something DRASTIC changes in the States.

I went with remesh since it’s so much stronger, requires less staking, and holds its shape on its own. I made 4’ diameter cages and they’re very sturdy.

 

[H20fwler]

Took a couple pics today for comparison, both planted same time maybe five years ago. Have been caging as I can most are caged now or none would have survived.

Caged two years ago.


No cage maybe 2’ tall and struggling

 

[bigboreblr]

Keep an eye out on facebook and craigslist. Sometimes you can score cheap or free fencing. Not a excellent deal, but I did get 100ft of 4ft tall fencing for $80 in august. Still debating how to cop it up Thinking toawrds (7) 14ft pieces. I already have a bunch of 10ft circumfrence ones for existing trees. I do have to transplant a few bareroots either after bench grafting in the spring or leave them in the nursery till fall. So, I could put the biger cages o my more expensive grafted trees.

 

[H20fwler]

Old used farm fence is cheap and enough to protect pines. Just need to slow down the browsing and stop the rubbing.

 

[OakSeeds]

Ditto H2O's suggestion. Adding to it, the attached addy's reveal how free classified ads might secure you some cheap/free fence materials. Ask a farmer friend (who is a member) to list a request for old farm fencing for a conservation project for you. You might be surprised at how much fencing is available.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=farm+bureau+classifieds
Good luck!

 

[BuckSutherland]

At my place they will eat, or pluck out white pines like candy. My brothers, 40 miles east, his property is full of white pines, and dont see any browse on them. I am going to pull out and replant a bunch here. But unless I cage them, none will survive a year. So I need to invest in some way over priced cages.

I just checked TSC $199 for 100 feet of 5 foot fence. I paid $86 last spring.

This is the one I used to get TSC to price match a few weeks ago. I have never had a deer a mess with my 4' tall cages. A few may have been overrun at full speed, but never a browse issue. I made 11 cages per roll for my white pines coming this season. I went from a 38" diameter cage down to 34". We barely have any deer left anyways.

Make sure to use the grand rapids store if your trying to get price match. All other home depots are $120/ roll. I'm probably gonna get a few more rolls now for 2024 with this cause the shit isnt going down in this worthless Brandon economy.

 

[BuckSutherland]

These ABP plugs from Itasca Greenhouse were part of the first group of trees I caged in 2019. These were the first trees that I ever gave "the full package." They have pumped out phenomenal growth for me.





This is one of the same plugs about 40 months later.....