Among the Tree Guards of Bransdale

In Bransdale today, work continued among the ranks of tree guards set out over recent winters. The task was to fell the self-seeded conifer saplings that have spread so thickly through this corner of Bloworth Wood. New woodland does not simply grow and look after itself; it demands steady, patient management. From the valley floor, the guards climb in a long creep up the steep far side, marking the slow advance of the young wood.

Tree guards are meant to give saplings a fair start, shielding them from browsing deer and hungry rabbits. Yet they carry an environmental cost that is easy to overlook. Many plastic tubes are never recovered. They split, scatter across the landscape, or become trapped within the very trees they were meant to protect. Because they are not biodegradable, they must be collected by hand, a task too often left undone¹‘Plastics and Tree Guards’. 2023. Woodlands.co.uk <https://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/practical-guides/plastics-and-tree-guards/> [accessed 19 February 2026].

The guards used here by the National Trust are however designed to biodegrade and return to the soil as compost. Some are already beginning to break down, even while the young trees inside have yet to outgrow their protective shells.

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  ‘Plastics and Tree Guards’. 2023. Woodlands.co.uk <https://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/practical-guides/plastics-and-tree-guards/> [accessed 19 February 2026]