Field Guide · Sow & Plant
Choosing Tree Shelters For plantings
A tree shelter is a translucent plastic sleeve set over a young tree or shrub after planting. It protects the plant from browsing and gives it a sheltered, greenhouse-like start. The right height depends on which animals you’re protecting against, and every shelter needs a stake to match.
Not the same as a Tree Tube plant“Tree Tube” is also one of our plant sizes for young trees. This guide is about the protective shelters, sold as Plantra Grow Tubes.
Pick the height for your browse pressure
Choose the shelter by the tallest animal you expect on the site. A shelter shorter than the animal can reach just moves the browsing up to the top of it.
| Shelter | Height | Protects against | Stake |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bunny Shield | 2 ft (24 in.) | Rabbits and other small animals | 36 in. |
| Jack-Rabbit Shield | 3 ft (35 in.) | Jackrabbits, hares and larger rodents | 47 in. |
| Beaver Shield | 4 ft (47 in.) | Beaver, nutria and other chewing animals | 59 in. |
| Doe Shield | 5 ft (58 in.) | Deer — the minimum height for deer protection | 74 in. |
| Buck Shield | 6 ft (71 in.) | Deer — full protection, including bucks | 84 in. |
Where deer are present, a 5 ft shelter is the minimum; choose 6 ft where deer pressure is heavy. On sites with rabbits only, a 2 or 3 ft shelter is enough.
Order the matching stake
Each shelter needs a stake, and the stake is longer than the shelter so part of it goes into the ground. Use Plantra’s Trunk-Builder fiberglass stakes: they sit inside the shelter, with a rounded top and small diameter that won’t rub or crowd the stem. Other stakes shouldn’t go inside a shelter. Each size is sold three ways: shelter only, stakes only, or the Plantra System with shelter and stake together. The system is the simplest choice for a new planting.
What fits in a shelter
All the shelters are about 4 inches across, so they suit single-stemmed young trees and shrubs, such as tubelings, Tree Tubes and small container stock. A bushy or multi-stemmed plant is better protected with fencing or a wire cage.
Installing
Plantra’s installation instructions (PDF) show each step with diagrams.
- Plant the tree as usual.
- Remove side branches. Trim any low side branches with sharp pruners so the stem goes into the shelter cleanly. Don’t bend branches to squeeze them in; that leads to weak branching later.
- Drive the stake 1½–2 inches from the stem until its ground-line marker reaches the soil surface. Use a stake driver rather than a hammer.
- Slide the shelter on. Pop it open by flattening it the opposite way from how it was packed, then slide it down over the stake, guiding both the stem and the stake inside. Turn it so a flat side of the stake sits snug against the wall, lined up between the paired tie holes.
- Seat it. Tap the top of the shelter firmly to push the base into the soil, and mound soil around the base to keep rodents out. The stake tip should end 1–2 inches above the top tie hole and below the top of the shelter.
- Tie it. Thread a twist tie through each pair of tie holes and around the stake, and twist it tight so animals can’t push the shelter up. The 2 and 3 ft shelters use two ties; the taller ones use three.
- Add the mesh top on the 4, 5 and 6 ft shelters. Stretch it over the top like a sock and hook it on the top tie, leaving about an inch closed at the top, to keep birds from getting trapped inside.
Checking and removing
Check shelters each season and re-tighten any loose ties. They’re designed to split along a perforated line as the trunk fills them, so they won’t girdle the tree. Remove them once the tree is well above browse height and the trunk can stand on its own.
Drop-shippedTree shelters ship directly from Plantra. Allow about five business days.
Here are the terms you’ll come across in our guides, on our seed labels, in our availability lists and on our species pages, for both seed and plants.
Balled and burlapped (B&B) describes a tree or shrub dug from the field with its root ball wrapped in burlap. We grow in containers and don’t sell B&B stock.
Bare root describes a dormant plant sold with no soil around its roots. We don’t sell bare-root stock.
Bulk weight is the total weight of seed material in the bag, including inert matter and non-viable seed. Compare it with Pure Live Seed.
Bulking agent is an inert carrier, such as sand, clay kitty litter, rice hulls, sawdust or vermiculite, that’s mixed with small seed so it spreads evenly.
Cell is one pocket of a flat. A flat’s cell count (for example, a 50-cell flat) is how many plants it holds.
Container sizes (#1, #2, #5, #7) are nursery trade sizes for potted plants, roughly 1, 2, 5 and 7 gallons. Larger containers mean larger, older plants. Pot dimensions and typical heights are listed in Plant Sizes & Spacing.
Cool-season grass is a grass that grows mainly in spring and fall and slows down in summer heat.
Cultipacker is a ridged roller used to firm a seedbed and press seed into the surface.
Deep plug is a plug grown in a deeper cell, 4″ deep × 2″ in diameter, for deep-rooted or taprooted wildflowers such as Butterflyweed and Common Milkweed. Sold by the flat of 50.
Dibble is a pointed hand tool for opening planting holes for plugs and tubelings.
Dormant seed is viable seed that won’t germinate until a requirement, such as a cold period or a softened seed coat, has been met.
Dormant (frost) seeding means sowing in winter, roughly December to March, so that freeze–thaw cycles work the seed into the soil.
Ecotype (local ecotype) describes a population of a species that is adapted to the climate and soils of a particular region. Most of our plants and seed come from seed we collect ourselves, so they are local-ecotype.
Flat is a tray of plugs or tubelings, about 11″ × 22″. We sell plugs and tubelings by the full flat.
Forb is a broadleaf, non-woody flowering plant, as opposed to a grass or grass-like plant.
Frost heave is when freezing and thawing soil pushes young plants, especially small plugs, up out of the ground. Mulch helps prevent it.
Germination rate is the share of seed that sprouts during a standard seed test.
Graminoid covers grasses and grass-like plants such as sedges and rushes.
Hemiparasite is a plant that photosynthesizes but also draws water and nutrients from the roots of a host plant.
Inert matter is the chaff, stems, soil and other non-seed material in a seed lot.
Inter-seeding means sowing native seed into existing desirable vegetation to increase its diversity.
No-till drill is a seed drill that cuts through residue and places seed without the soil being tilled first.
Nurse crop is a fast, short-lived grass sown with a native mix to give quick cover. See Cover & Nurse Crops.
On center (O.C.) is plant spacing measured from the center of one plant to the center of the next, as in “18 inches on center.”
Plug is a young plant grown in a small cell with an established root ball. Our plugs are grown in cells 2″ deep × 2″ in diameter and sold by the flat of 50, kept trimmed to about 6–8″.
Pure Live Seed (PLS) is the share of a seed lot that is pure, viable seed of the labeled species, calculated as purity × total viability. See PLS & Seeding Rates.
Purity is the share of a seed lot, by weight, that is seed of the labeled species.
Rhizobia are soil bacteria that live in nodules on legume roots and fix nitrogen.
Root flare is where a tree’s trunk widens into its roots. It should sit at or just above the soil surface after planting. See Planting Containers, Shrubs & Trees.
Salinity tolerance rates how much salt a species can take, from road de-icing salt to tidal flooding. See Salt Tolerance.
Scarification means nicking or abrading a hard seed coat so that water can get in.
Seeding rate is the amount of seed sown per unit of area, written as PLS pounds per acre or PLS seeds per square foot.
Solarization means killing vegetation by trapping the sun’s heat under clear plastic.
Stratification means exposing seed to cold, moist (and sometimes warm, moist) conditions to break its dormancy. See the germination guide.
Total viability is germination plus dormant seed, meaning all the seed in a lot that is alive.
Tree shelter is a translucent plastic sleeve set over a young tree or shrub to protect it from browsing. See Choosing Tree Shelters.
Tree Tube is one of our plant sizes: a young taprooted tree, such as Paw-Paw or a hickory, grown in its own tube 10″ deep × 2.25″ in diameter and sold in clusters of 32. Plants are about 4–6″. It’s a plant, not a protective shelter.
Tubeling is a young plant grown in a deep, narrow cell, used mostly for trees and shrubs. Our 32-cell tubelings are 4″ deep × 2.25″ in diameter and our 72-cell tubelings 4″ × 1.5″.
Warm-season grass is a grass that grows mainly in summer heat and greens up late in spring.
Wetland indicator status rates how likely a species is to occur in wetlands. See Wetland Indicator Status.