With the winter season now in full effect, it’s time to address a situation that’s inevitable… watching animals eat away at your plants and trees. Lots of animals spend the winter hibernating away with the snow and cold weather, but there are still a handful of animals that come out of hiding to eat away at what’s left of the plants and trees that surround you. Our goal is always to preserve your trees before anything else. Animals picking at what remains of them during the winter would be damaging to them once the season is done, and we want to educate you on how to keep them healthy.
In this blog, we will break down the best ways to protect and preserve your trees and plants from animals during the winter season.
Why Do Animals Eat Your Plants During the Winter?
In order for you to protect your trees and plants from animals, you must first understand WHY they eat away at them. There are a lot of animals that hibernate and still go out to feed, everything from mice, rabbits, voles, and the biggest culprits… deer! All of them primarily feed on twigs, bark, leaves, and stems during the winter.
Deer
Photo credit: https://peterboroughmastergardeners.com/2025/01/13/cedar-trees-a-winter-food-source-for-wildlife/
Studies have shown that deer spend a majority of their lives feeding on whatever they can find, no matter the season. They’ll even eat the plants and trees that were sprayed with deer repellent. What makes deer the biggest culprits of this situation is that they are more likely to eat all the plants and trees that are in our own backyards. What grows in our gardens and home landscapes is their primary food source: shrubs, smaller trees (not the big ones as much), side branches, and more.
Rabbits and Mice
One of the biggest misconceptions out there is that rabbits are an animal species that hibernates in winter, but they don’t; they also terrorize your landscapes and eat away at plant life. Rabbits also benefit from the abundance of snow on the ground that allows them to get through and eat your trees and plants where deer cannot. One of the rabbit’s big focuses is to eat through the bark of trees to get the juicy stuff that’s stored inside. Mice also get the benefit of this by burrowing under the snow to feed on thin-barked trees and shrubs; they are no different.
If you have any one of these trees in the surrounding areas of your home, business, or any other property that these animals eat, then you should keep reading:
- Apple
- Cherry
- Maple
- Birch
- Dogwood
- Willow
How to Protect Your Trees From These Animals
There are multiple tactics that you can implement to protect these trees, all of which normally should be installed in the fall before snowfall comes, but you can get lucky when there is no snow coming down, and you can implement them even still during winter.
Putting in Animal Fencing
Photo credit: https://www.dailyherald.com/20201227/lifestyle/how-to-protect-plants-over-the-winter/
Proper animal fencing is an effective way to keep out larger and smaller animals, depending on how you implement it into your lawns. For smaller animals, roughly 4 feet of fence works well enough since that also benefits the snowfall depths that are normal in winter on average. Have you ever seen deer tracks in your backyard, even though you have a fence around it? 8-12 feet of fence for bigger animals is best, especially since deer can clear 12 feet jumping over it. The picture below is an example of one of these forms of fencing to put in.
Removing Animal Shelters Around Your Home
Photo credit: https://everbreed.com/blog/do-rabbits-hibernate/
We know that this is a particular tactic that will come with a bit of hesitancy, especially if you are someone who loves animals. You might be worried about hurting an animal if you remove their winter shelter, but what makes this tactic efficient is that you won’t have to touch their shelter before it’s even built. Animals will always find a new shelter where it is allowed.
Protecting your landscapes before they build their homes is your best bet. Take that fencing we talked about and put it under decks or in and around areas where you have planted your shrubs or trees. Trim, prune, and cut down on some of your plants and trees where they’re not needed and become a hindrance, even with animals using them to help create shelters and cover for when the snowfall and heavy cold winds come about.
Using Repellents on the Trees
Using repellents on your plant life is an idea that should be measured and given attention by professionals like us at Bradley Tree. We have talked about using repellents on plants and trees before, and we also have a page specific to repellent products and their uses. Our arborists are trained to measure the right amount of repellent to use and which repellent to use for specific trees and plants.
It should also be made clear that repellents are not poisonous to the trees; it’s only the smell and taste of them that repel the animals. If you’re not able to get good enough fencing, then repellents can be a good enough 2nd option for protection. All you have to do is make sure you apply them early enough before winter, and contact us when you need them.
Winter Tree Protection FAQ
Should I wrap my trees and plants in burlap to protect against animals?
Photo credit: https://gardening-guy.com/tag/wrapping-plants-with-burlap/
You’ve probably seen this on my plants and trees in your neighbor’s lawns that are covered by burlap wrapping. Should you use that to protect your trees and shrubs from animals while also not damaging them? Yes! It protects against animals, drying winds, and something called sunscald.
Sunscald is damage from the sun, and if this happens during the winter, it will warm the bark on the tree, activating the cells inside. Once sudden freezing happens at night, the cells start to die, which leads to cracking the bark, and it falls off the tree. Burlap wrapping can protect against both the animals that want to feed on the tree bark and your shrubs, and the weather.
If you have any more questions like this one, reach out through our contact form, which is the best way to get in touch with us, and we will be happy to help you with whatever you need!