Question:  For planting in an area with a significant beaver population, we plan to use 36" blue tubes for plant protection.  How successful are these tubes in deterring beaver damage?

Options

See also: Preventing Conflicts with Beavers

Blue Tubes:  36” Protex Pro/Gro (blue) tubes from Terra Tech
Pros:  work well if properly secured and checked at least annually to adjust and re-secure as necessary
Cons:  trees do not do as well inside blue tubes as inside yellow mesh ones

Printing plates:  Obtain printing plates from the local newspaper.   Stand them on end and secure with cable ties.
Pros:  The cable ties decompose after about 4 years, and the plates can be repositioned at that time to accommodate tree growth.

Wire mesh:  Use 48" 14 ga welded wire mesh fencing.  A 100 foot roll yields about 25 cages.  Anchor the cage with one  3/4 x 1 1/2 x 48" wood stake.
Pros:  The small blue tubes need to be removed while the trees are still a very attractive size to beavers, so it the wire mesh may end up being less expensive per tree that gets large enough to shade a stream. 
Cons:  The cages need to be removed in a few years as they will not fall apart like the plastic ones. The material cost for a cage was about $2.90 each in 2005, so they cost more than the blue tubes.

Chicken Wire: 
Pros:  Chicken wire and bamboo stakes are less expensive than welded wire and steel posts.  Chicken wire rusts out before it girdles the trees.