Green vinyl coated fencing with a 2”x3” mesh works for all but the smallest bunnies. The green disappears to the eye. Dried blood/blood meal also works.

tj

Tree tubes are not intended specifically for rabbits. They are used with smaller trees and saplings to protect against damage by lawn mowers and weed whackers, for frost protection and to guard against buck rubs and small animal predation. They are intended for use with single stemmed plants. Caging is a more efficient approach to ward off deer browsing or bunnies, if with more shrubby or multi-stemmed plants.

There are many products available including spiral tree guards. Transparent ones will also promote growth in very small whips. There are also bio degradable guards since it is an ugly sight seeing a young woodland full of broken plastic tubes long after the trees have outgrown them. Or you can make home made ones.

'Rabbit Tubes' can serve more than one function, as mentioned above. And depending on where you live, the things to protect trees from may differ. I'm speaking from a more northerly area.

When food gets scarce, primarily in winter, rabbit and voles will resort to eating off the bark of younger, thin barked trees (maples and poplars seem to be favorites but not limited to) and eating the 'green layer' underneath. This can cause severe damage even ruin of the tree. This I believe is where the term 'rabbit tube' originated (they're also called tree protectors).

In colder areas, where sun may heat up the surface of a thin barked tree, then freeze again, 'Sun Scald' damage can occur (we don't have warm weather sun scald here that I know of), therefore. a white tube or spiral covering on the lower couple/few feet of smaller trees, in the winter and early spring, will prevent that (I've seen red maples up to 3" diameter, sunscald without using protection).

As mentioned, buck deer tend to ignore rubbing their antlers on trees, up to 3" diameter, that have something wrapped around the trunks. Chicken wire, plastic tubes and such prevents Summer/Fall deer rub damage.

On spruce, pine or other low branching trees, a surround of fencing keeps the deer away.

Now when talking shrubs and multi trunked, spreading woody plants.

I surrounded my new winterberry plants with 2' high chicken wire, only to have deer reach over the top and nip new growth from the branches. The low fence kept out the rabbits, but I would have to use at least 4' fence to keep the deer out too, which I've done other years. This season, I opted to use a DIY deer repellant that took the deer out of the equation, allowing me to get by with only the 2' chicken wire this season.

When it comes to weed whippers, thin corrugated plastic tubes can still be compromised. So, if you don't use a mulch ring around your trees, and depending on who does your yard work, I've found 9" tall, heavy grey plastic trunk protectors at BBS.

I also use them for venting at the bottom of my tree protectors. Seems they protect from the mice and voles too with the 1/4" wide slits. (With ground freeze here, I've never had voles tunneling).

Here's my Sugar maple, last Fall, protected from deer, mice, rabbits and sun scald. :-)

ETA:

Even if you do not have severe winters, rabbits will gnaw on woody plants at any time of year. This satisfies a need the animal has to keep their teeth from growing too long, which eventully will cause the animal to starve to death. Their teeth continually grow so they have to gnaw on things to wear them down to stay normal.

what bill said.. i presume.. here is the product

https://www.amazon.com/TreeMaster-Protector-plastic-protection-62524-5/dp/B01LXN4QPB/ref=asc_df_B01LXN4QPB?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80745502739812&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584345029355418&psc=1