[doganjo]

Could I graft one of the untouched branches onto the root stock?  One of them seems to be OK. 

But one of the apple trees and my plum tree have been eaten all round the base, below the stock - I don't suppos there's anything I can do with them 

[Penninehillbilly]

Oh not your plum that you liked? Has there been another visit?
It's wrong time of year really for grafting, but you have nothing to lose by trying?
The tree you have snickering, could you get one of the suckers with roots on, graft on to it and pot up in a greenhouse or porch?
When we did grafting it was in spring, grafting onto bare rooted rootstocks, then they are planted out, Ive seen a video where the rootstocks were planted and person just went down the rows sticking scions in and taping up, amazing speed.

[doganjo]

Yes, my lovely juicy 'pick off the tree' plums will be no more.     I used to like cute little roe deer.       But no more!

Not sure what I'll do with the apple trees.  Too cold and snowy to do anything yesterday or today.

[Marches Farmer]

If they've ring-barked a tree it'll probably become diseased and fail within a couple of years.  My Badger Face managed to push up the bottom of the sheep wire around our 10 year old trees (despite being in a field of 15cm ancient meadow grasses - no-one's told them they're not goats) and I've just planted new trees in a sheep-free area to replace them.

[doganjo]

A friend suggested wrapping cling film round the base of affected trees to save them - has anyone heard of that?

[Penninehillbilly]

A friend suggested wrapping cling film round the base of affected trees to save them - has anyone heard of that?

I suggested it, but I think 18" may be too much, and I think it has to be done straight away. (Actually I think it was Beechgrove garden on TV that mentioned it, but I'd heard of using something to bridge the gap previously).


Added
Fact sheet 2, April 6th, 2017

[doganjo]

A friend suggested wrapping cling film round the base of affected trees to save them - has anyone heard of that?

I suggested it, but I think 18" may be too much, and I think it has to be done straight away. (Actually I think it was Beechgrove garden on TV that mentioned it, but I'd heard of using something to bridge the gap previously).


Added
Fact sheet 2, April 6th, 2017

Sorry didn't remember your post PHB.  My plum tree has been eaten about 4 inches all round, but it doesn't look recent so they've obviously been snacking before and I hadn't noticed.  So I guess I will be fruitless next year. 

Oh, and edited to thank you for the fact sheet link.  I've never bothered to look at them before but they are full of
great information and accompanied by photos.  I'll be reading this tonight instead of my historical romance on my kindle!

[arobwk]

Quote ... "So I guess I will be fruitless next year."


Almost certainly I would say, but don't be surprised if you get blossom despite the damage. If you do, don't get excited - the tree/s will use up stored resources and eventually die. It is possible to bridge the gap with a bark graft (not sure it will work over 18" on your apples), but you will need to ask yourself whether the trees/varieties are worth the bother! 
Grafting (leaving aside bridge bark grafting):  my understanding is that bud grafts are best done when sap is flowing and that scion grafts are best done when dormant (happy to hear any contrary views) - if you want to try save anything doganjo, no harm in trying to graft a cutting from the variety growth/wood onto, say, a sucker from the root-stock of your damaged trees. (Best to do several grafts on more than one sucker and cut out anything that doesn't work idc.)

[doganjo]

Quote ... "So I guess I will be fruitless next year."


Almost certainly I would say, but don't be surprised if you get blossom despite the damage. If you do, don't get excited - the tree/s will use up stored resources and eventually die. It is possible to bridge the gap with a bark graft (not sure it will work over 18" on your apples), but you will need to ask yourself whether the trees/varieties are worth the bother! 
Grafting (leaving aside bridge bark grafting):  my understanding is that bud grafts are best done when sap is flowing and that scion grafts are best done when dormant (happy to hear any contrary views) - if you want to try save anything doganjo, no harm in trying to graft a cutting from the variety growth/wood onto, say, a sucker from the root-stock of your damaged trees. (Best to do several grafts on more than one sucker and cut out anything that doesn't work idc.)

Yup, thinking the same, thank you; the plum tres would be worthsaving - but the bark seems to have been stripped a good while ago.  The apples were just cheapies from morrisons when I moved down here.  I'll have them taken down and plant good ones and protect them.  I now know the reason we have deer in the garden - across the lane a large field is being prepared for house building and they have heras panels completely surrounding it.  Deer were often seen there before, so they have had to find other food sources.  I won't miss the apples, they weren't that great, but there were a lot of them.  If i can find mature trees not too expensive that mighht produce a crop soon I'll replant. 
Thank you everyone for your help and advice.

[Penninehillbilly]

I wonder if it's worth wetting the plum stem and wrapping it? No harm in trying? You can send off for rootstocks.
Have they chewed above or below the rootstock? If there is any stem above the rootstock but below where they chewed it may sprout itself?

[doganjo]

The plum tree has been chewed right down to ground level up to about 4 inches.  I haven't been out there for a couple of days but by the looks of it I think it was a good few days before we spotted the apple trees.

I'll try wrappig it tomoorow if it's reasonably dry.  Thank you

[arobwk]

Here's a link re bridge grafting:

http://www.ladybug.uconn.edu/FactSheets/trees--bridge-grafting-and-inarching-.php

It doesn't mention plums, but anything is worth a try.  Re plums;  from my experience, plum rootstock will sucker easily and since trees are damaged, I suspect a good sized root system will throw good number of rootstock suckers this year.  Even if you try the bridge grafting, take some extra cuttings of the variety and stick them in some compost - a bit of rooting compound won't go amiss obviously - if they root, you will have retained material to graft onto any new suckers idc as an alternative means of recovering the situation.
Apples: the rootstock will also throw suckers idc and you could do the same, but maybe glean some cuttings from friends etc of a variety you like and create new trees on your well established rootstock.  Alternatively, if you want early cropping from new apple trees, go for ones grafted onto one of the dwarfing rootstocks (either M9 or M27 - I can never remember which is the most dwarfing) as they tend to crop much sooner than trees on other rootstock and crop quite abundantly and, of course, will not require a ladder or other aids to harvest the crop - downside is that they really need permanent staking, but no big deal.