Don't even dream of waiting until spring. Don't leave the trees in the ground a single night without fencing. Northwoodswis

New Jersey is infested with deer. Your first challenge will be getting your trees through the stage when the bucks rub all the bark off saplings. The bucks particularly like to use apple/crabapple/pear trees for this purpose. This ends sometime in january.

If there is snow cover for any length of time this winter, the deer will begin browsing on twigs. Again they prefer apple twigs but eat other fruit twigs. Rabbits chew the bark off the trunks during this time.

Then when the first leaves come out in spring, they will nibble them all off, leaving no leaves on any of your trees.

A high fence, or fencing the trees individually could limit the damage. Whitetail deer have been known to jump over 8 foot fences, and crawl under fences to get food.

Think of your tree collection as "Frodo Baggins" carrying the one ring of power. The nine dark horsemen are the whitetail deer in your area. They are coming for the ring. This may sound silly but it is meant to illustrate the challenges you will face trying to get the trees to outgrow the deer.

I lost a couple apple trees I planted the first time. So I know deer really loves apple trees.

Right now deer is very active. For my ornamental trees, I cover them with the bird nets I used to cover berry bushes. This is very effective except one tree where wind displaced the net.

I'll see if I want to put up the fence, or to wrap the whips with tree wraps.

I have a 7' foot high deer fence 50' x 90'. I know the deer are capable of jumping that high, but they haven't done it in the three years it's been up, they just go around it. I used plastic deer fencing, and the rabbits chewed through the bottom of it in many places. I had to put chicken wire around the whole perimeter just to keep them from ruining it any more.

I have a 6 ft fence round my garden, while my fruit trees are individually fenced. When I put up the garden fence, the deer stayed out for six months, but just last week end I found deer scat inside the fence. Th garden is now put to bed, except for a couple of beds (and three beds which are covered with hoop houses). But next year I will have to add a 3 feet netting overhang to the outside to stop them from jumping in.

I planted some new apple trees at the farm in 2012. I'm just now getting around to starting to put up a deer fence.

I've gotten by the last three seasons by keeping the trees sprayed w/ Bobbex. I spray them about every two weeks during the growing season, using about 1/2 the recommended strength. I find this works better than spraying full strength less often.

A lot of deer pressure, but the Bobbex works. I've had to keep apples, plums, and cherries sprayed. It also helps to prevent rubbing of the trees. It's not the cheapest thing in the world - $200 for 5 gal, but 5 gal. makes a lot of spray at 1/2 strength.

I doubt I'll have the fence completed by next summer, so I'll probably be using the Bobbex again next year.

It seems if you stake the fruit trees, then deer does not want to bother them. Deer rubbed my peaches trees. But after I staked them, they leave the trees alone.

So I figure, if I stake my small apple trees, maybe the deer would leave them alone too. I may just plant one tree to test it.

There is no rubbing against the whips. They just chomp them a few inches above ground.

I've had deer right here in my yard. So far, the only damage was a few dozen nibbled buds (just the very tips) and only on 2 trees (both apple). The other trees and other apples have never been bothered. This "nibbling" took place for the first time this year in late winter.

As long as it stays even remotely as limited (damage wise) as it has been I'm not doing anything. I live in the Appalachian mountains and am surrounded by miles of woods. fields and meadows. I don't know why they leave me alone so far, but I'm thankful for it.

hey,
there are some alternative ways also to protect your apple trees from deers because we know fencing option can get expensive, you may try this:

"Put a wire hoop around each tree that is 4 feet in diameter and about 4 to 5 feet tall. Put two sturdy stakes in the ground to hold it steady. It can be removed when the trees are much taller."

BTW...at least worth mentioning is that sulfur is widely believed to act as a repellent to deer. In fact; I understand that some or perhaps many commercial deer repellents contain sulfur.This also includes sulfurated items like garlic and rotten eggs. Reportedly it is believed to be effective because the smell is thought to signal "carnage" and death to them. Take all this for what it's worth. I'm not a big subscriber to repellents in the first place, but being sulfur is used by some here as a fungicide it might be worth an extra late dose to see how it fares. ACN apparently believes in the soap deal.
I was taking my son to preschool the other day and he found a pear leaf in the driveway and carried it into the car. I could smell the damn sulfur on it and told him to toss it out the window. I hadn't sprayed any for several weeks and even then just a light spray.
Maybe the sulfur has deterred them in the past and they are just getting used to it now. They might hammer me this winter.

I bought a potted plum tree on clearance in mid-summer. I had it sitting overnight on the front lawn beside the driveway, planning to deal with it later . The deer dined on it that same night. There was enough foliage that the tree still survived. That I why I say not to leave your trees unfenced for even a single night!
Northwoodswis

I've had every leaf eaten off of new trees in a single night. Sometimes on a tree that had been ignored for months.

At least once up a couple of stairs onto a covered wooden deck.

And there is no fruiting species that's been immune so far.

I'd heard feijoa, fig, olive, persimmon, pawpaw all had some degree of deer resistance but they all get eaten eventually. This while there are still blackberries and other things that could be eaten in a mild temperate climate.