2005 Year in Review

When The Deer Get Too Near

Source: Martha Smith, Extension Educator, Horticulture, 309/836-2363

Damage to ornamental plants by white-tailed dear has increased during the past decade. As the human population shifts to rural and suburban home sites, encroaching on the natural habitat for the white-tailed deer, home landscapes become alternative food sources.

Nothing is more frustrating than to wake up on a sunny morning and discover half your landscape has been nibbled away! Hours of backbreaking labor gone - not to mention the monetary investment. What can be done? " Many people turn to home remedies such as hanging bars of soap in their bushes or putting out human hair," explains Martha Smith, Horticulture Educator with the University of Illinois Extension, " these seem to work for a while until they loose their potency or the homeowner forgets to reapply. Wind and rain wears the scent away and the deer return." According to Smith, plant material in deer infested areas should be types the deer don't prefer in their diets. Their obvious preference for and apparent avoidance of certain plants can be turned to our advantage. Costly browsing may be reduced or eliminated by planting less-preferred species or by establishing susceptible plants only in areas protected from deer. The proven alternative is exclusion with either an eight to ten foot fence, installing an electrical fence or individually covering the plants.

Whether or not a particular plant species or variety will be eaten depends on the deer's previous experience, nutritional needs, plant palatability, seasonal factors, weather conditions, and the availability of alternative foods. Deer are creatures of habit and once they become aware of an area with available foodstuffs, you can expect regular visits.

In the northeast states, surveys have been conducted analyzing deer damage and plant preference. Nursery operators, landscape contractors, cooperative extension personnel, research staff, and other professional horticulturists, numerically ranked and subdivided commercially available woody ornamental plant material. Four plant categories were identified; “rarely damaged” are plants infrequently fed or browsed upon by deer, and are the best candidates for landscapes prone to deer damage; “seldom severely damaged” is usually minor damage and has limited effect on the shape or attractiveness of the plant; “occasionally severely damaged” includes plants that may be damaged by deer; and “frequently severely damaged” are plants that deer prefer. The reader is cautioned that the deer-browsing resistance of any plant species may change due to fluctuations in deer populations, alternative food availability, and environmental factors previously mentioned. “No plant species will be avoided by deer under all conditions,” cautions Smith, “but we have learned from nature that deer don’t like the taste or texture of certain plants, and we can use this to our advantage.”

If you would like this list of plant material resistant to deer, contact your local University of Illinois Extension office.

by  Editor, theCity1.com
November 14, 2005