Avoid Deer Damage By Plant Selection

Resistance of Seedlings and Nursery Stock to Deer Damage The best way to avoid deer damage to your landscape plants is with the proper selection of plants that the deer will naturally avoid. Sprays will over time wash away and fences do not enhance your landscape if they are 8' tall. Damage to seedlings and nursery stock by deer will increase as it has over the past 20 years. We don't believe that there are any 100 per cent effective methods to stop deer damage except 8- 10' high woven wire fences are that to costly for most small growers. Human populations moving to rural areas will continue. Loss of huntable land will increase as will deer populations. Deer having multiple births coupled with increasing gun regulation is likly to continue. There are few natural controls for deer populations. Opening your land to hunting is an effective practice for lowering deer populations. Since deer are nocturnal, hunting may not be totally effective. This means that you must have an integrated pest management plan. This plan should include the following: popualtion management(hunting), repellants, selecting resistant plants, fencing, knowledge of deer habits for integrating your management plan. Deer Feeding Habits Deer feeding will occur on fertilized and unfertilize plants. Most browsing of seedlings will occur at night. By planting less-preferred seedlings in unprotected areas and surrounding preferred seedlings by less-preferred seedlings, deer damage is lessened. Susceptible plants shoud be fenced or planted near occupied structures. Backyard dogs are effective in keeping deer away.Your knowledge of deer feeding habits should be your first line of defence. A plan based on this knowledge will provide seedlings growers with less expensive alternatives to dangerous chemiacls repellants and hard to maintain fences and physical barriers. Deer are creatures of habit. Some deer in certain areas will eat holly and white pines, while deer in other areas won't. Therefore plant preference lists are only rough guides to deer damage susceptibility. In general browsing damage to seedlings will be highest when snow or extreme weather reduces food availability. Succulent young growth is an attractive deer attraction in the spring time. When food is in short supply deer will feed on less desireable plants. Always try and reduce deer herds. We once had a deer hunt where hunters paid 100 dollars each to a police gun fund for the control of deer on our nursery that is located next to Peace Valley Park. For weeks the control worked and deer damage was controlled. Seedlings and Liners We Recommend Boxwoods Red Osier Dogwood Russian Olive Rose of Sharon Hollies Leucothoe River Birch Trees Japanese Cedars Blue Spruce trees Austrin Pine Barberries Andromeda You can see other articles by Bill Hirst at the following web site http://www.seedlingsrus.com