Tree shelters are designed to protect seedlings and accelerate early growth. They are placed around seeds, seedlings or transplants at planting or retro-fitted to existing seedlings.

Field studies of tree shelters have documented increased growth rates averaging 100-150%, with certain species exceeding 500%. A seedling with enhanced early growth will always be ahead of a plant of the same age that does not have the growth advantage provided by a tree shelter.

Plant Protection
Seedlings are protected from rodents, rabbits, deer, and other herbivores and from chemical sprays during critical early growth. Tree Shelters, when properly installed, block herbicide drift and provide non-chemical pest protection, maximizing seedling survival.

Beneficial Microclimate
Tree Shelters create a beneficial microclimate inside the shelter for each seedling, with:

• Increased humidity
• Higher CO₂ levels
• Reduced drying and mechanical damage caused by wind
• Reduction of harmful UV light
• Beneficial blue light effect

Unique Amplified Blue Light
Blue-X Tree Shelters are the only tree shelters offering the unique characteristics of amplified blue light to your plants. One of the benefits of blue light is to encourage diameter growth in trees, resulting in stronger stems and trunks.

Lowest Cost
Until now, tree shelters have been prohibitively expensive for most uses, sometimes adding dollars to the cost of each seedling. Tree Shelters are the only answer for a low cost forest. The tree Shelters I carry are are 3-1/2 inches in diameter and 48 inches tall they can be used with or without a wood or bamboo stake.

Here are the results of my own investigation on how these shelters help trees grow. On June 6, 2001 I put a shelter around a hybrid poplar tree that was 6 inches tall. All other hybrid poplar trees around it were just about the same size. I removed the tree shelter on July 6, 2001, exactly one month later. The tree that had the shelter had grown to 24.75 inches. The other trees were on the average 18 inches tall, none taller than 20". The shelter I used was only 24" tall (cut a 48" in half) and the tree was starting to show over the top of the shelter.

It takes only a few seconds to assemble a tree shelter. It consists of two parts, a blue sleeve, which has assembly instructions printed on it, and the PET or mylar sheet which is flat. This is how you put them together:

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To order shelters please go to the Garden needs page.