Tree protection
What height of tree guard do you need?
Each animal needs a guard of a different height, and yours need to suit the tallest one on your land. Pick an animal to see the Forestry Commission's minimum guard height, with each deer shown at its real shoulder height.
- Minimum guard height for the selected animal
- Tree guard
Selected
Rabbit
- Minimum guard
- 0.6 m
Rabbits nibble shoots and strip bark close to the ground, and in a hard winter will gnaw right round a young stem.
Not sure what's browsing your trees? Free survey →Selected
Hare
- Minimum guard
- 0.75 m
Hares bite shoots off cleanly at an angle, and will often take the top out of a newly planted whip.
Not sure what's browsing your trees? Free survey →Selected
Muntjac
- Shoulder height
- Up to 52 cm
- Minimum guard
- 1.2 m
- Minimum deer fence
- 1.5 m
Small, but the Forestry Commission recommends the same 1.2 m guards for muntjac as for roe.
Muntjac: the full guide →Not sure what's browsing your trees? Free survey →Selected
Roe deer
- Shoulder height
- Up to 75 cm
- Minimum guard
- 1.2 m
- Minimum deer fence
- 1.5 m
The deer you're most likely to see across Yorkshire and the North. Roe browse buds and shoots, and bucks fray young stems from spring through to the rut.
Roe deer: the full guide →Not sure what's browsing your trees? Free survey →Selected
Fallow deer
- Shoulder height
- Up to 95 cm
- Minimum guard
- 1.8 m
- Minimum deer fence
- 1.8 m
Fallow need the same 1.8 m guards as red and sika, so guards that stop roe won't stop them. At high numbers they can do a lot of damage locally.
Fallow deer: the full guide →Not sure what's browsing your trees? Free survey →Selected
Red deer
- Shoulder height
- Up to 1.37 m
- Minimum guard
- 1.8 m
- Minimum deer fence
- 1.8 m
Red deer browse tree shoots, especially in winter when other food is short, and can strip bark from trees well beyond the sapling stage.
Red deer: the full guide →Not sure what's browsing your trees? Free survey →Selected
Sika deer
- Shoulder height
- Up to 95 cm
- Minimum guard
- 1.8 m
- Minimum deer fence
- 1.8 m
Sika browse shoots and strip bark, and stags gouge tree trunks with their antlers, known as bole scoring.
Sika deer: the full guide →Not sure what's browsing your trees? Free survey →Guard heights are the Forestry Commission's recommended minimums, and fence heights are the minimums in the FG9 deer fencing specification. They're minimums, not a guarantee: a guard protects the stem and growing tip while the tree gets established, but a determined deer may still reach over the top, and once the leading shoot grows out of the guard it's exposed again. Where deer pressure is high, guards work best alongside fencing or reducing deer numbers. Where more than one species uses the land, protect for the tallest. Not sure which deer you have? See our deer species guides.
Getting it right
Height is only half of it
Protect for the tallest
If roe live on the land but fallow pass through, the guards need to beat the fallow. Sizing for the usual visitor only does half the job.
Why guards fail →Keep them upright and checked
A guard that leans lets deer browse over the top, and ties left too tight will strangle the stem as it grows.
Fitting guards properly →Past a certain size, fence instead
Guarding thousands of trees one by one can cost more than a single fence line around the whole block.
Fencing, guards, or culling →Planting soon? Find out what you're protecting against first.
A free deer survey tells you which species are on the land and how many, so the protection you buy is the protection you need.
Or call Chris on 07397 942663. He'll call you back the same day.