Ezee Tree Guards

[L W Woodlands]

Saw these at the confor show on friday. Eco friendly, compostable tree guards made from recycled cardboard.

 

ezeetree.com

 

I like the look of them as I remove a lorry load of plastic ones each year, which we have to pay a recycling contractor to get rid of. I believe they get shipped to China (where they probably end up in landfill), all that plastic manufacture and transport kind of kills the environmental benefit of planting the trees...

 

Anyway going to try some with this winters planting, my main concerns are longevity and ease/speed of fitment so we'll see how we get on.

[mattyboy]

hmm they look slow

[woodyguy]

Interesting. Share your concern and irritation at removing and disposing.

What cost are these though?

[tilleytrees]

I saw the guards at confor they look really good last 4-5 yrs break down and are good for insects etc

I think they are simular Price to tubex. 70-80p each ( off the top of my head so may be a couple of pence out)

 

So in Labour terms alot cheaper in the long term

 

Cheers

 

Richard

[tilleytrees]

PS

really easy to fit as they clip together and the cane holds them shut

[Eddy_t]

Yeah, the bog roll tube things looked surprisingly robust, they had ones there that were at different rates of decomposition too, I think that like the cardboard on the thread 'to mulch or not to mulch' it would also attract worms, which would aerate the roots, meaning a healthier, faster growing sapling too

 

 

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[teepeeat]

the bloke was claiming they were a few pence cheaper than Tubex, but not sure if that was compared to the standard Tubex or the supposedly bio-degradable ones?

 

Will have to see how they stack up and would be interested to hear from anybody who has used them?

 

Bits of plastic lying around the place is just irritating, without getting to the ecological debate!

[coppiceer]

Saw these at the confor show on friday. Eco friendly, compostable tree guards made from recycled cardboard.

 

ezeetree.com

 

I like the look of them as I remove a lorry load of plastic ones each year, which we have to pay a recycling contractor to get rid of. I believe they get shipped to China (where they probably end up in landfill), all that plastic manufacture and transport kind of kills the environmental benefit of planting the trees...

 

Anyway going to try some with this winters planting, my main concerns are longevity and ease/speed of fitment so we'll see how we get on.

 

I find that old Tubex shelters still work well on new plantings. I drill new holes into the sides, put on releasable cable ties and attach them to 3' hazel stakes that I grow myself. If you can cut them along the perforation to get them off the original tree/shrub, then the shelter closes up really well and they look and work as if they were new. Some of my shelters are now 20 years old and still protecting new young plants after 3-4 re-uses.

 

Try advertising the best of them for sale and giving the worst to some community planting project.

[L W Woodlands]

I find that old Tubex shelters still work well on new plantings. I drill new holes into the sides, put on releasable cable ties and attach them to 3' hazel stakes that I grow myself. If you can cut them along the perforation to get them off the original tree/shrub, then the shelter closes up really well and they look and work as if they were new. Some of my shelters are now 20 years old and still protecting new young plants after 3-4 re-uses.

 

Try advertising the best of them for sale and giving the worst to some community planting project.

 

I too have re used a lot, particularly the 0.6m tubex, where often you can remove them without cutting if done early enough. I have also tried offering used tubes for free in the past but never had any responses.

 

It would be nice to see some large scale new plantings using the cardboard shelters though. I've used hundreds of thousands of the plastic ones when contract planting on highways and farm woods in the past, many of which will probably never be removed!

[coppiceer]

I too have re used a lot, particularly the 0.6m tubex, where often you can remove them without cutting if done early enough. I have also tried offering used tubes for free in the past but never had any responses.

 

It would be nice to see some large scale new plantings using the cardboard shelters though. I've used hundreds of thousands of the plastic ones when contract planting on highways and farm woods in the past, many of which will probably never be removed!

 

I just thought it might be worth trying a few on ebay. I "rescued" several hundred from a local highways sceme, which were destined for landfill, and now use them repeatedly. The trouble with the tubex tubes is that they are too good. They are supposed to split at the perforation and not need removing but if you do that then the bark seems to suffer. Plus they do spoil the look of the place. If the cardboard planters won't damage the trees when left on then I agree with you.