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Saturday, March 22, 2003

Q. With all the cold weather and snow, the deer have moved into my yard. They are eating the leaves from my azaleas and rhododendrons. I suppose the older ones that are about 12 years old will survive, but some were planted only last spring. I wonder if they will come back in the spring? I know the blossoms are gone for this year, but will I have to replant?

A. This winter has been very hard on deer. They have had to eat more to maintain their metabolism during such cold weather. Their normal browse and mast (nuts such as acorns) have either been eaten or buried by snow. Now they are moving into people's gardens and helping themselves to prized azaleas, rhododendrons, yews -- they are hungry enough to eat just about anything. After such a tough winter, I imagine deer are really going to go for tender spring bulbs and other herbaceous plants as they begin to push up through the soil.

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Your established rhododendrons will survive, although they may not have much foliage or any flowers within deer reach. You will have to wait and see about the smaller ones. To increase their chance of survival, make cylinders of chicken wire or hardware cloth and surround individual azaleas and rhododendrons. Stake them in place with rebar or something similar. Be sure they are tall and wide enough that deer cannot just reach over the top and munch away. You also can secure a section of fencing material over the top of the cylinder for added protection. This gives the young plants a break from deer browsing and provides an opportunity for them to recover.

The only sure way to keep Bambi away from your prized plants is by fencing him out of your yard altogether. Eight-foot-tall woven wire works very well and can last for many years with minimal maintenance. Plastic netting is much less expensive and easier to put up, but does have to be inspected for breaks regularly and replaced every two years or so. You can also put up two 4- to 5-foot fences, spaced about 6 feet apart. Deer seem reluctant to jump a double barrier that does not leave much room between for them to land and take off again. Electric fencing works as well, but I hate to recommend its use in densely populated areas.

You also can fence off individual plants, as recommended above. Whether you use chicken wire, hardware cloth or plastic deer netting, be sure to support the fencing material on stakes far enough away from the plants that deer cannot eat through the fence. If you lay plastic deer netting right on the plants, it will barely slow Bambi down as he browses his way through your shrubs.

Repellents seem to work for a while, but when deer get used to them -- or hungry enough that they do not care -- treated plants can be browsed as severely as untreated ones. Repellents have to be reapplied frequently. Refer to the label of the product you are using for recommended intervals between applications. It does help to rotate among repellents to keep deer from getting used to them. I have heard a number of gardeners claim good results with Liquid Fence, Repellex, Hot Pepper Wax, deodorant soap and human hair. Outdoor dogs that have the run of the yard can also do a good job of keeping deer away from your plants.

I have learned over the years that there is no such thing as a deer-resistant plant. Running trial gardens in North and South parks, I see deer eat things in one garden they never touch in the other. When they are hungry enough (and they are hungry after this winter!), deer will eat anything. Boxwoods (Buxus spp.) have long been considered the epitome of deer-resistant plants, but I have even heard of them being eaten occasionally.

Experience has given me some idea about deer favorites, and rhododendrons and azaleas are very high on their preferred browse list. You would be wise to add some different plants to your landscape, including boxwood, spice bush (Lindera benzoin), and bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica). I cannot promise deer will never touch them, but they all should fare better than the rhododendrons and azaleas.