Do deer eat evergreen shrubs? (2023)

FAQs

Are there any evergreens that deer won't eat? ›

Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) is one of the few native evergreen shrubs that deer largely ignore.

Flowering Deer-Resistant Shrubs

While there is no such thing as 100%, deer-proof shrub white-tailed deer do tend to avoid Lilacs, Butterfly Bushes, Hydrangeas, and Camellia, to name a few. Incorporating these in your landscape will give you months of color from early spring to late summer.

Hungry deer will munch on the tender branches, twigs and foliage of resinous evergreen trees in U.S Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 2 through 10. When deer eat pine trees, the foliage, needles, buds and stems will quickly regrow in spring.

Wrap shrubs in burlap or cover them in temporary netting for the season to encourage deer to seek out easier food sources (burlap also protects broadleaved evergreens from drying out over the winter). Be sure to remove any protective covers in spring (and, for good measure, apply a spray repellent right away).

Are hydrangeas deer-resistant? The short answer is no. Deer love to graze on the leaves, flowers, and tender tips of hydrangeas. That said, there are strategies that hydrangea-loving gardeners like me can use to reduce deer damage.

Clearly, the answer to this question is a definitive no - hydrangeas are one of the least-deer resistant plants you'll find at the garden center.

As long as trees and shrubs are healthy, they can sustain a considerable amount of deer damage and survive. Once growth resumes in the spring or early summer, lateral buds along the stems will produce new vegetative growth that will gradually replace what was lost.

Stately Boxwood Repels Deer

Buxus sempervirens is a plant deer don't like to eat because its evergreen foliage is aromatic (but please note, not all fragrant plants are resistant to deer.).

Deer have a strong sense of smell, which means that the bitter smell of coffee grounds can be used to keep deer away from your property. However, there is no scientific evidence to prove that coffee grounds repel deer, but ground coffee does exude a bitter odor that can support deterring deer nearby your home.

Deer repellents are most often made from putrified eggs, dried blood, garlic, or soaps. Several studies, including this one, have found that egg-based products are the most effective. These include Deer Away, Bobbex, and Liquid Fence. I've used all of these and have had good results.

How do you protect newly planted shrubs from deer? ›

Shrub Protectors

If browsing deer are causing damage to shrubs in your yard, you can wrap individual shrubs with burlap, layered plastic or inexpensive snow fencing.

What smells work best at deterring deer? Some smells that deer react negatively to include eggs, garlic, cloves, and mint. They're also driven away if they smell danger, so using predator scents, such as wolf urine, may work.

Do Deer eat evergreen trees? Absolutely. However, like other plants, deer prefer some evergreen trees over others. They usually do more damage to those vulnerable evergreens they love to eat from.

Essential Oil Deer Repellent

For a DIY spray with a more pleasant aroma, use vinegar and herbal essential oils. Use a funnel to add 8 ounces of white vinegar to an empty 16-ounce spray bottle. Add 6 drops of peppermint essential oil and 4 drops of rosemary essential oil to the spray bottle with the vinegar.

Protecting young evergreen trees from deer damage

To assist the trees through this vulnerable time, you can buy deer repellents such as synthetic coyote urine or other chemical deterrents [Plantskydd], or you can put a home-made tube of chicken wire over the tree and stake it down…but that is a lot of work.

Sprinkle Soap

It may seem silly, but sprinkling soap is a tried and true method of deterring deer from entering and destroying your garden. Cut Irish Spring Original soap into cubes, and place the pieces into the ground around newly growing plants.

Daffodils, foxgloves, and poppies are common flowers with a toxicity that deer avoid. Deer also tend to turn their noses up at fragrant plants with strong scents. Herbs such as sages, ornamental salvias, and lavender, as well as flowers like peonies and bearded irises, are just “stinky” to deer.

1: Plantain Lily (Hosta spp.)

Plantain lily is a perennial with lovely green broad, oval, soft and juicy leaves and in fact it's one of deer's favorite meals!

Hostas are beautiful, elegant, and the go-to plant for shady spots in both warm and cold climates. They're also at the top of the list of plants that deer love and actively seek out. If your hosta is just a bunch of stems sticking out of the ground with no leaves, that's a sure sign that deer got to them!

Named for their dark brown centers peeking out of the gold or bronze petals, black-eyed susans thrive in the sun. Because its covered in course hair, deer and rabbits stay far away from it. These daisy-like blooms are perfect for a late summer or fall bouquet.

How do farmers keep deer away? ›

Fencing. Fencing, the construction of a barrier between the crop and the deer, is the most effective long-term solution to deer damage. The basics of fencing apply to both electric and non-electric fencing. It is important to understand that deer can easily jump a fence 10 feet high, but much prefer not to.

To keep deer away in the winter, you'd have to, at the very least, surround the bottom of the hedge with a deer-proof barrier of some sort, like burlap or snow fencing.

Will hemlock and cedar tree needles come back after deer have stripped them? Sorry, the foliage won't likely come back once deer visitors have stripped it away. Look in mid- to late June to see if any buds survived; if there is no new growth prune the tree.

Not only does planting a deer-resistant hedge keep them from eating the hedge itself, but planting a tall hedge around the rest of your garden will help keep the deer away from everything else, as they prefer not to jump over borders that they can't see over.

Most Holly shrubs are deer resistant, with American Holly being the best option for those with hungry deer in their area. Holly Shrubs will do well in containers or planted directly in the ground, and its branches can be beautiful when used in cut “flower” displays in Fall and Winter.

Hot sauce, soap flakes and mothballs can also be used to deter deer if spread liberally to overwhelm their sense of smell.

Mix together one egg yolk, one liter of water, and one tablespoon of baking soda. Pour the solution into a sprayer then apply it on the plants once every two or three weeks. The smell and taste of the egg yolk solution will eventually cause the deer to look elsewhere for food.

Deer, as well as other animals, “including cats, dogs, rabbits, foxes and racoons, [don't like] the scent of vinegar even after it has dried.

Plant Heavily Scented Herbs and Flowers

Herbs like lavender, chives, mint, and marigold are all great options. These pungent plants work in two ways. Deer will avoid walking through heavily scented plants, as they pick up the smell on their fur and are more noticeable.

Doe and Buck Urine

This is exactly what it sounds like. It's simply urine from a deer on any average day. These are useful for calming a deer's nerves and raising their curiosity level since it simulates a new deer in the area. It can be used during any hunting season, since deer pee in the woods all the time.

What attracts deer more than anything? ›

By far the most popular and widely used bait for attracting whitetails is corn. Not only is deer corn highly consumed and well received by whitetails in almost every habitat across the continent, but it's also one of the cheapest options for hunters.

The best way to keep deer from dining on your junipers is to install 8 foot high temporary plastic deer fencing around them. Deer can easily jump over shorter fencing, especially if deep snow makes the leap shorter. Also, consider planting species that deer are less likely to eat.

Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent withstands up to one inch of rain per week and only needs to be applied once per month. If you experience more than 4 inches of rain/watering in less than 4 weeks, you will need to reapply the product. Make sure all vegetation is dry before reapplying. Q.

CD's and DVD's to repel deer

You can also use aluminum foil pie plates in the same way. Hang them from a fence and let them rotate freely in the breeze. The sun glinting off the disc or aluminum foil is supposed to make the deer uneasy.

Dawn dish soap is an inexpensive solution that will help repel deer from your yard. You can make a simple mixture using, 1-2 tbsp of dawn, 1 gallon of water and a sprayer.

Some people plant strong-smelling herbs and other plants around trees and shrubs they want to keep pests away from. Lavender, rosemary, oregano, thyme, catmint, garlic, and chives are just a few of the aromatic plants that deer avoid because of their powerful smells.

leucodermis), Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), Korean fir (Abies koreana), Nordmann fir (Abies nordmanniana), Norway spruce (Picea abies), Oriental spruce (Picea orientalis), and weeping Alaska-cedar (Xanthocyparis nootkatensis).

Deer don't care for Western arborvitaes, like green giant, steeplechase or spring grove. So, if you plant these, they may leave them alone.

25. Evergreen azalea (Rhododendron sp.) Despite being toxic when consumed in large amounts, deer love every part of these shrubs (even their flowers), and white-tailed deer particularly enjoy them.

What landscaping do deer avoid? ›

No tree is more revered in the whitetail world than oaks, of which there are a multitude of types. Oak trees provide an array of food to local whitetails depending on their age and variety, Duren noted. “Red oak seedlings are a favorite browse for deer, while white oak acorns provide a favored mast crop.”

Thuja Green Giant

The Thuja Green Giant is the most popular, fastest-growing privacy evergreen money can buy. This hardy tree is naturally disease and pest-resistant, and has growth rates that can exceed 5 feet per year.

Daffodils, foxgloves, and poppies are common flowers with a toxicity that deer avoid. Deer also tend to turn their noses up at fragrant plants with strong scents. Herbs such as sages, ornamental salvias, and lavender, as well as flowers like peonies and bearded irises, are just “stinky” to deer.

Stately Boxwood Repels Deer

Buxus sempervirens is a plant deer don't like to eat because its evergreen foliage is aromatic (but please note, not all fragrant plants are resistant to deer.).

American Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) is a fast-growing evergreen hedge with feathery foliage. It grows best in full sun and is very cold hardy. It's a great choice for a privacy hedge. American Arborvitae is hardy in USDA Zones 3-8.

What a shock when you realize that the deer got to your hedge over the winter. They are particularly fond of cedar (arborvitae) hedges (Thuja occidentalis) and often the whole bottom of the plant is completely empty of green growth up to height of 5 feet or more.

Deer repellents are most often made from putrified eggs, dried blood, garlic, or soaps. Several studies, including this one, have found that egg-based products are the most effective. These include Deer Away, Bobbex, and Liquid Fence. I've used all of these and have had good results.

What smells work best at deterring deer? Some smells that deer react negatively to include eggs, garlic, cloves, and mint. They're also driven away if they smell danger, so using predator scents, such as wolf urine, may work.