The Problem Index → Critters
Something stripped the bark off my young fruit trees over winter
This is voles, under the mulch or under the snow, and the single most common way people kill their own young orchard. It is also the clearest case of mistaken identity in pest control.
What actually works
✕ Avoid
Poisoning moles for plant damage
Moles are insectivores — they don't eat plants or bark. Voles use the mole's tunnels. Kill the moles and the damage continues.
The wrong animal, and the problem stays◆ Proven
Pull mulch back 6 inches from every trunk
Mulch against bark is a covered feeding tunnel. This one habit prevents most of it, and it's free.
◆ Proven
Hardware cloth trunk cylinders
Set an inch or two INTO the soil, not resting on it, and tall enough to clear your deepest snow.
◆ Proven
Mow the orchard floor going into winter
Cover is the whole habitat. Short grass in November is vole control in February.
Also searched as
bark chewed off tree · tree girdled winter · voles killed my tree · mole damage trees · mice ate bark · trunk gnawed · apple tree bark missing