What is a tree guard?
When we plant trees, one of the key things that we do to help ensure a long and healthy life for them is to use tree guards – and we recommend all our customers use them as well. Research suggests tree guards can increase the survival of your tree by 89%[1] offsetting their initial cost by ensuring you don’t need to repeat the planting.
There are a variety of different types, which are recommended for different situations, species and planting schemes. The tube-shaped plastic or biodegradable alternative guard encase the new sapling and are supported by a wooden stake which hold them upright in place. These guards need to remain around the tree until it is sturdy enough to stand against the weather by itself, and resist predations from local wildlife – from voles to sheep, or deer. This can be as long as five years.
Many of the tubes that are used in this way are made of plastic, which is robust enough to withstand sun, rain and wind for that length of time, but clearly not a great solution for the environment as a whole. The dangers of plastics are widely known, so alternatives are being trialled, to find something else that can withstand the rigours of the British climate.
At The Grower, we stock a range of recycled and recyclable tree guards, as well as biodegradable alternatives. Like our commonly used phrase ‘Right Tree. Right Place’, the same is true for tree shelters. Choosing the right tree protection for each location means the “most sustainable” option won’t be the same for every scenario. Here at The Grower we can help you make a decision on what option is best for you and your scheme.
Different kinds of Tree Guards
Here is just an example of our key sellers
Standard recycled/recyclable tree guards – in sizes from 0.6m to 1.8m to ensure protection from grazing mammals including rabbits, sheep and deer. The guards enhance tree growth, through creating a micro-climate and protecting the tree from animals or herbicides.
Tubex Shrub shelter – in sizes 0.6 to 0.75m. Tubex Shrub Shelters provide improved survival rates by protecting trees against hares, rabbits and voles, as well as providing complete herbicide protection. Unlike spiral or net products which can become embedded in the branches and bark of growing shrubs, the Tubex Shrub Shelter is quick and easy to remove.
Tubex EasyWrap – in diameter sizes 35mm to 95mm. Replacing spiral guards for hedging. Anyone who has planted a lot of shrub and hedge trees will know what a pain spiral guards are to install and how terrible they are for the environment, breaking up into micro plastics and therefore incredibly hard to remove. So not only are these better for the environment but make for easier installation and removal. The vertical slit of the wraps creates a natural overlap that allows the wrap to grow with the tree, and is easier to install and remove than spirals, while the twin-wall construction offers improved growing conditions. Ideal for helping establish vines, trees and hedges where the lateral growth of branches is important.
The above guards and easy wraps are all available in biodegradable alternatives – Tubex Nature™ is made from bio-based materials derived from sugarcane, corn & starch. It is externally tested against ISO 17556 to show soil biodegradability, and independently tested to show biodegradation on soil at ambient temperatures.
Tubex Nature products can be left to biodegrade in situ and will, over time, start to degrade and breakdown into water and CO2 through a microbiological process.
Other alternatives include:
Bio spiral guard - Manufactured from sustainable plant-based starch – no petrochemical based material. The CT Bio Spiral guard has a UV stabiliser incorporated at the time of manufacturing to provide a stable service life of 4-5 years.
If the Bio Spirals are left in the environment, they will degrade over time due to the bacteria found in soil or due to enzymatic reactions. Alternatively, they can be inserted into an industrial composting unit which will degrade them within 6 months.
Recycling tree guards
Reusing tree guards is something that many organisations that regularly plant new trees already do, but for those who only have one planting scheme, what happens to those tree guards once the trees are grown and flourishing?
Often, they just fall off, or are damaged, and become litter. Or they remain in place and eventually stunt the growth of the trees. We’re not going to sugar coat it, as an industry we should be embarrassed with how many tree guards are not collected. And many a time Inez has sent off post maintenance reports recounting the need for tree guards to be removed.
But that’s one of the key reasons why here at The Grower, we are keen to promote an alternative – returning them to the manufacturer!
Tubex is one of the main manufacturers of tree guards, and have a wide range of sizes and styles to suit many different applications and budgets. They recognise plastic is an issue within woodland creation, and wanting to create a more circular product that is more sustainable. They are the only business currently offering a recycling scheme.
Recyclable PP shelters are still the lowest environmental impact option (Independent LCA study) and represent a circular use of materials vs. a linear economy where products are “made to waste”.
As the landowner, or as the person who holds the maintenance contract, you are responsible for the removal of the tree guards, once the tree is established. And in fact, for EWCO applications this is now a mandatory action to ensure their removal[2].
Recycling hub
The Grower, together with more than 20 other locations in the UK, are a Tubex Recycling Hub for plastic tree guards – offering a FREE drop off facility throughout the summer months, and we were delighted with the take-up, in this first season.
Once we have enough bulk bags to warrant transport with a haulier, and Tubex have collected them. they will wash and shred the returned items, and send them back into the manufacturing process to make new recycled and recyclable tree guards.
You can find out more about Tubex’s recycling programme here.
When can I drop off my tree guards?
Collections are available 1st May to 30th September at The Grower, outside of the tree planting season.
How can I drop off my tree shelters?
You’re responsible to collect your tubes and bag them up in the dumpy sacks. If you’ve booked a drop-off you will need to drop-off the bags at the hub. You can take as little as 1 bulk bag of tree shelters to any of the locations across the UK for free. You will need to book a timeslot for drop off at all hubs as many can’t accept walk ins.
The collection facilities are open at a range of dates and times throughout the spring and summer months.
You can find the other recycling points, and more details of the scheme here.
What do you accept?
We accept any Tubex PP or PE tree shelters as part of the scheme, as well as any other manufacturers’ PP and PE tree shelters.
We cannot accept any other materials, such as PVC spirals, bio-based or biodegradable material, as they can pollute the recycling process. If you can, please remove the nylon zip ties from the shelters before bagging them up.
I've got A LOT of tree guards...
If you have a lot of tree guards to recycle, you can request bags direct from Tubex, who then collect the filled bags. These cost £39 each, to cover shipping, and there is a minimum collection quantity of 6 bags, where a bag holds around 350-400 tree guards if you nest them.
For individual doorstep pickup collections – please contact Tubex via their website.
I don't have time to gather up all the tree guards on the property
Get in touch with The Grower, and we can quote for our team to come to your scheme to remove and collect the tree shelters for you.
Who can recycle tree guards
Anyone who has used tree guards can recycle them. If you have less than 6 bags x 350 of them, then we suggest hanging on to them till next summer, when we’re reopening the collection hub at The Grower.
Why are we doing this?
We believe in protecting the environment, and clearly, chunks of rubbish plastic aren’t good for the local ecosystems, or the trees, if they’re left in place. There are many conscientious landowners, and people responsible for tree-planting schemes across Cornwall, and we were sure that they would be very open to a scheme that enabled them to do another small thing to make a difference.
And we were right! Huge thank you to all the people who brought us their plastic tree guards!
If you weren’t aware of this scheme before, then you need to know that the rules are changing around the use of tree guards, and many grant-funded tree planting schemes include mandatory recycling of tree guards after they are no longer required.
How can I get involved? I don't use tree guards...
We know that many people don’t have large-scale tree-planting schemes on their land, or don’t even have land to plant trees on, and that’s fine. There is still a way that you can get involved in removing tree guards from the natural landscape.
The ‘Forest Plastics Working Group’ has set up a citizen Science project to map where plastic tree guards are, within the environment. They are encouraging people to note where they see tree guards ‘in the wild’, so they can be reported, and safely removed. You can find out more here.
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