A few years ago I found an opened bag of 4 new 30" spiral tree guards for 1.99 in the sale bin at the local hardware store. There were no instructions. I have a use for them now - 15, 2 year old fruit and nut trees. We're behind with our chores and the ground hasn't frozen yet - winter tends to come late here.

I'm mainly concerned about girdling from voles (?) that tunnel along the ground surface under the snow. We've have a couple of young Japanese maples and apple trees over the years that were killed by girdling near the ground..

Questions are about best way to use these tree guards: how far to sink them into the ground, how close to wind them around the trunks, are they supposed to be tied on at any point? The nut trees have very thin trunks. The plums have very short trunks. Can the guards be cut to suit the length of the trunks?

The hardware store doesn't carry guards. I've been told of something called Blue X though - worth ordering?