Hi,

Last spring (2016) I purchased three apple trees from a local nursery. Initially, for the first few months, all three did well. However, towards the end of last summer, the leaves on one began to slowly turn brown, and eventually the whole tree died. Then, this past spring, the same happened to the second of the trees. Now, the third tree appears to be dying as well, as can be seen in the attached pictures.

The area receives a good amount of sunlight, and I water the tree occasionally. Also, I've weeded the area around the tree a number of times. In the pictures, you can see that I have put a metal net around the tree to keep out deer. Could this somehow be affecting the tree? It seems a little far-fetched, though the trees didn't start having issues until after I put the netting around them. If the netting is the issues, what would be the easiest alternative to keep out deer (as you can see in the images, I have tried attaching Christmas ornaments)?

Thank you!

-Joe Beck