Protection of fodder trees from grazing is a big problem in communally used grasslands. In such a semi-arid grassland with poor sandy soils, located in Macedonia, Greece, two protection measures of fodder trees planted in three spacings were tested for four years (1991-94). The species were: Robinia pseudoacacia L., Gleditsia triacanthos L., and Morus alba L. spacings: 4x4, 8x8 and 12x12 m; and the protection measures were: plastic tubes 1,8 m tall and wire nets of the same height (replaced in the third year by a fence with barb wire). It was found that mortality was relatively high in all species, especially in Gleditsia, apparently due to the long dry summers combined with the poor sandy soils of the study area as well as the frequent damages of the protection measures by animals and shepherds. Robinia presented higher mortality rates within the plastic tubes than within the wire nets, while the other species had an opposite response. Tree growth was favoured by plastic tubes in Robinia, especially in the first years of establishment, but the positive effect as tree height was reduced on plants grew out of the top of the tubes. Gleditsia was not favoured by the tubes nor by the wire nets while Morus was positively affected by the plastic tubes only in the second year since its establishment. It is concluded that plastic tubes are effective means of protecting fodder tree saplings from damage in communally grazed grasslands.