Question
Last spring I planted several small apple trees in my rural yard in South Dakota.  Over the winter the rabbits got to them and ate most of the bark off of the trunks.  They are stripped from the ground to about half way up.  They still look good on the top.  They are only about 4-5 feet tall.  Is there anything we can do to save them?

Answer
If the bark is gone all the way around the trunk of the tree then the upper part of the trunk is dead or may die. To check to see if the upper part is alive take a small knife and scrape a little bark off the twigs--if the color under the bark is green then the tree is still alive at this point on the branch.. If the color is brown (not green)  the twig is dead at this point on the branch--go down the branch until you find green. If the top of the tree is dead beyond the chewing you may still have a tree,. The root system should be good and you will see new sprouts come from the root this spring. When the sprouts start prune the dead part off. There will be several so I would let them grow and later this summer pick the tallest. This will be the new main trunk --prune the others off. I would wrap the trunk next fall with a tree wrap to protect it from the animals. Check with your local nursery for tree wrap.