30 Year Anniversary of The Invention of Tree Tubes
Tree Tubes (also known as Treeshelters) were invented 30 years ago by Graham Tuley, a forester with the British Forestry Commission. Frustrated with the poor success rate of hardwood regeneration in the UK due largely to deer browse, Tuley formed 1.2m (approximately 4ft) tubes out of translucent plastic sheets and placed them over small sessile oak seedlings. Not only did these tubes - Tuley Tubes as they are still called in the UK - protect the seedlings from deer browse, they also dramatically increased seedling survival rates and accelerated growth.

Graham Tuley's simple idea has greatly enhanced woody plant establishment throughout the world. The entire forestry - and horticultural - community owes Mr. Tuley a tremendous debt of gratitude.

20 Year Anniversary of Tree Tubes in the USA
In late 1988 Plantra’s president Joe Lais made the phone call that brought tree tubes to the USA from Great Britain, and in spring 2009 the first shipments arrived. Since then Joe and his partners Steve Tillmann and Chris Siems have devoted their careers to taking a great idea and making it better.

"Treeshelters could probably only have been invented in the UK," says Joe, "The moderate, maritime climate of the UK is very forgiving of tree tube designs that would cause them to fail in the more extreme climates we face here in North America. If those early tree tubes had been tested in northern Minnesota or in the Sonoran Desert the experimenters would probably have given up on the idea."

From the beginning three things have been clear:

1. The potential for tree tube technology to revolutionize woody plant establishment
2. That the threats faced & challenges faced by the people who plant trees, and vines and shrubs continue to mount
3. That tree tubes as designed and used in the UK needed to be greatly improved and modified before they could fulfill their promise

Over 20 years Joe and the Plantra team have introduced several innovations: Larger diameter to reduce leaf overlap and self-shading growth effects, the "Plantra Peach" color to optimize the ratio of red light for peak photosynthesis, and ventilation to equalize temperature, humidity and CO2 inside the tubes.

While it sometimes seems like the Plantra team has been working with tree tubes forever, at 30 years of age tree tubes are actually a very young technology. Tree tubes have come a long way since the early days, and have helped establish millions of trees that would otherwise have succumbed to moisture stress or been eaten by deer...but at Plantra we believe that the best is yet to come and that the next 20 years will bring innovations Mr. Tuley could never have dreamed of... but which would make him very proud.