Well it's still winter why not wait and see? Patience is the number one virtue. As with a graft it only takes a little cambium connection to join two pieces together. If the darling geese haven't completely separated all of the cambium connection it will begin callousing and healing up as soon as sap returns in very early spring. Since it's damaged so high up, you have plenty of good buds below to grow right back. I've sometimes cut
trees back that far just to keep them in reach. Especially mulberries that grow way too tall to pick. Those geese are still not as destructive as my two pet goats. I've been through
alot of girdling in my years of this endeavor. Hopefully the trees will all be healed up by the time the trees leaf out. Maybe you'll find a better bark protection method. For
deer antler I just wrap aluminum foil because their antlers have nerves like our teeth. Plenty of pet deer taught me that trick. I doubt aluminum foil will be painful to geese mouths but maybe it will work. If you've ever accidently chewed a piece of foil while eating a Hershey kiss you'll know the pain I'm talking about. Good luck with your
apple and pear trees. I've got alot of those and been through alot of this.
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