A serious challenge for apple tree growers may be keeping deer away from the apple trees in their gardens.
It’s not often they actually eat the fruit on the apple tree, but the real issue is they may nibble away tender shoots, which will result in a compromised harvest.
When the apple tree is very young and at the perfect height for animals like deer, it becomes a serious problem.
The question is then, how can you protect your apple trees from deer?
How to protect apple trees from deer
Answer: An effective way to protect your young apple trees away from deer, is to build a fence around the trees. If you only have a few apple trees it’s recommended to build individual fences around your trees.
Pound three or four stakes into the ground around your apple trees and then wrap the trees in netting or chicken wire.
Make sure the fence around the apple tree is five to six feet tall to prevent deer can’t getting to it. Make sure the circumference of the fence is small enough so a deer can’t jump into it or get stuck in the fence in some other way.
Make sure the fencing is five to six feet tall so deer (or rabbits) can’t get to it. The circumference of the fence should be small enough so deer can’t jump into it.
A fence must be easy to set up, which can prevent deer from getting too close to your young apple trees.
An alternative to a normal fence could be to install an electric fence around your apple tree to encourage behavior modification amongst the deer.
Even though deer easily will be able to jump the fence or may try to crawl under the fence and eat the tender shots.
A little “zap” from an electric fence will quickly be able to change the behavior of the deer and train it to stay 1 meter from the fence around the fruit tree.
There may be different rules for how strong the electricity must be in the fence, depending on which country and area you live in. Be sure to research this before using an electric fence for your fruit trees.
However, an electric fence will require more maintenance and frequent inspection to ensure its effectiveness.
Will deer destroy apple trees?
Answer: Deer tend to rub their antlers on a tree, which may damage the apple tree irreparably. A deer will be able to damage an apple tree so badly that it will not be able to grow further and thus produce juicy fruit.
If there is a large group of deer in your neighborhood and they are not likely to go away anytime soon, a fence will be the most reliable deterrent to keep them away from your apple tree.
Does cinnamon keep deer away from apple trees?
A mix of cinnamon oil will be able to keep deer away from your apple tree as the deer don’t like the smell of cinnamon.
Cinnamon has a very intense smell and is a deer repellent that feels bad for the deer. When a deer smells the cinnamon from the air, they will often not even come close to the apple tree, as they don’t like the smell.
It’s a great and effective way to keep deer away from your apple trees, but also other herbs and shrubs in your garden, as most people have cinnamon at home.
How to mix your own cinnamon mixture
A cinnamon mixture can be done at home very easily. The mixture can be used straight after it has been prepared to keep the deer away from your apple tree or other herbs in your garden.
You need to use the following ingredients to prepare a great cinnamon mixture:
- A big bowl
- 1 cup of milk
- 2-3 eggs
- An electric hand mixture
- A spoon
- A spray bottle
- 25 drops cinnamon oil
- 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1-2 tbsp detergent
- 3 tbsp hot sauce
- 4.5 L water
Follow these 4 easy steps to create your cinnamon oil to keep deer away.
Step 1: Take your bowl and break the eggs into it. Take your electric hand mixture and whip the eggs for some time.
Step 2: Take 1 cup of milk, 1-2 tbsp detergent, 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil, and 3 tbsp of hot sauce into the mixture in the bowl. Once it has been mixed together – add 25 drops of cinnamon oil and mix it together with the electric hand mixer.
Step 3: Add 4.5 L of water into the bowl. Take a spoon mix all of the ingredients together and make sure it’s distributed properly.
Step 4: Last thing is to pour the mixture into a spray bottle. From here the cinnamon mixture can be sprayed around your apple tree, herbs, and other stuff near your garden to keep deer away.
How do you keep deer away from baby fruit trees?
Let’s be real, deer can be a real pest when it comes to baby fruit trees.
They enjoy them year-round, eating the bark, munching on green tender leaves, and tender limbs, and even rubbing their antlers against the fruit tree, which can damage the tree.
There are several ways to consider protecting your baby fruit trees from deer.
The foulest and rancid concoctions will always deter deer from your trees.
A mixture of chili, rotten eggs, garlic, and chemicals is enough to make a homemade spray to prevent deer from baby fruit trees.
All things that most people already have in their homes.
A deer will be able to get used to a certain smell if the same one is used year after year. This is why it’s important to switch up the deer repellent sprays from time to time if you want to protect your baby fruit trees.
Final thoughts
To summarize, there are some things you can do to protect your apple trees and your baby fruit trees, with few things most people already have in their homes.
Whether you choose to put up a regular fence, an electric fence, or try to make your own spray to prevent deer, you will find which one suits you best.
Hopefully, this article has been helpful to you regarding how you can protect your apple trees from deer in a smart way without being an expert or that it requires a lot of different things.
If you need more inspiration or are interested in how you can heat up your greenhouse during the winter, then read our article.