How much you’ll be paid

£74.74 per guard

How this item benefits the environment

This item protects trees from damage caused by grazing animals and wild animals.

Where you can use this item

You can use this item on trees where you have land under a habitat management, restoration or creation action or option.  

You can also use this item in a Higher Tier Capital Grant with AF1: Plant an agroforestry woodland tree or AF2: Plant an agroforestry fruit tree (with the agreement of the Forestry Commission or Natural England).

You can use this item when planting trees with these capital items:

• TE1: Planting standard hedgerow tree
• TE2: Planting standard parkland tree
• TE3: Planting fruit trees
• TE4: Supply and plant tree

You cannot use this item with:

• TE7: Tree guard (large post and rail)
• TE19: Tree guard (narrow weld mesh)

What you must do to use this item

You must:

• erect tree guards at least 1.5 metres (m) high with posts placed far enough apart that grazing animals cannot reach within 300.5m centimetres (cm) of the tree stem
• design the tree guard to allow access for formative pruning, applying mulch and clearing vegetation around the base of each tree

You must construct the tree guards in one of 2 ways.

Option 1

The tree guard must have:

• at least 3 treated timber corner postsposts, (forand atop triangularand guard)bottom orrails 4that postsare (for5 acentimetres square(cm) guard),in atdiameter
• sheep leastnetting 6cm inattached diameterbetween andthe 1.5mtop aboveand groundbottom rails
• toplonger posts and bottoman railsadditional thatstrand areof 6cmwire instrung diameter
• above the sheep netting attachedto betweenincrease the topheight andof bottomthe railsguard (if needed)
• a2 lengthstrands of plain or barbed wire wrapped spirally around the guard to prevent animals from rubbing against it

Option 2

The tree guard must have:

• at least 2 treatedstakes timberplaced posts,at eachleast 6cm0.5m inapart
• one diameterstake and at least 1.5m abovehigh, groundand the other at least 0.5m high
• 2mstrong of  strong weld mesh  wirewire (at least 1.5m high) wrapped around and securely fastened to the outside of the stakes toat formleast 0.25m from the trunk
• either the vertical strands of the wire mesh bent so they face outwards, or a cylinderpiece (usingof out-turnedrubber spikestubing ifslit preferred)lengthways pushed on to the top of the wire circle (to prevent the trunk rubbing against the metal)
• 2 strands of barbed wire wrapped spirally around the guard to prevent livestock from rubbing against it

You must not:

• fasten guards to the tree
• allowattach guards toso constrict,they rub against, constrict or damage the tree in any other way

Evidence you must keep 

You must keep photographs of the completed work and supply them with your claim.

You must also keep and supply on request:

• any consents or permissions connected with the work
• receipted invoices or bank statements where a receipted invoice is unavailable
• photographs of theexisting trees to be protected

Read the record keeping and site visit requirements in the Agreement holder’s guide: Capital Grants, Higher Tier capital grants and Protection and Infrastructure grants for more information.

If you’re applying for this item as part of a Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) application, read the record keeping and site visit requirements in the CSHT agreement holder’s guide.