Deer

[Mrs Trellis]

We planted a Bramley apple tree in the field by our new house.  The bark has been stripped so it must be deer, very close to the village.  It will be lovely to see them when we have moved in, but how do we discourage them from damaging trees and eating plants?  At the moment there is a bit of steep sloping garden with shrubs and an unfenced area of .59 hectares where we hoped to put more fruit trees and grow some veg.   Fencing would be expensive and also look ugly as our land is surrounded by other land and the whole lot is cut for hay once a year.  We have a nice view and fencing would spoil it.

[ukhostland]

You could fence the individual trees. Years ago I worked at the Royal Gardens in Windsor and with a huge deer population this was the only option. Pretty solutions will not be cheap, but they did it.

There is a product you can buy in the UK called Ronodene, which is intended to detire deer.: might work, but physical barriers are the answer.

Colin

[Debra]

When we planted fruit trees we found that fencing the individual trees was necessary and worked.  This was strange since the deer managed to get over 2m fencing with no trouble but didn't damage the trees that had individual circles of sheep netting around them.  We decided it was probably because it was easier to eat the other shrubs and trees nearby than to make a special effort to get to the fruit trees.

[Yonner]

Consider squirrels too! They love the sap under the bark,

and “ring” the tree for it. If the bark is stripped downwards, then it's deer.  We’ve lost

small fruit trees in a similar way, and are going to use the heavy plastic wrap

initially, that fixes deer and squirrels. We’ll move to fences as the trees

grow if necessary. Good luck.

[Frederick]

You can try hanging strong smelling bars of soap on the tree Some say they wont go near that. There is Lion poo if you have friends in Kenya ..or the local zoo  Some say they wont go near that ... Then there is human urine ... and that only works depending on your beer intake and the  weather . .  I live very close to the Saftesbury  Estate in the UK and their deer have not been culled much and they have bred out of control..I know deer can be nice to look at but get a lot and they can be a pain to have to live with . .

[Manon]

We used the hard plastic stem / trunk guards to stop damage to the young trunks and they worked. We find they eat the lowest branches / buds / leaves but don't seem to bother with higher ones which must still be within reach. Free ranging sheep do far more damage to all my plants and shrubs than the deer.

[Salty Sam]

[quote user="Yonner"]

Consider squirrels too! They love the sap under the bark,

and “ring” the tree for it. If the bark is stripped downwards, then it's deer.  We’ve lost

small fruit trees in a similar way, and are going to use the heavy plastic wrap

initially, that fixes deer and squirrels. We’ll move to fences as the trees

grow if necessary. Good luck.[/quote]

Slight correction! Deer strip bark in an upwards movement, with the damage being fairly obvious by the broad teeth marks running up the stem, and with broken or torn bark shreds left hanging.

As deer have no upper incisors, it is virtually impossible for them to strip bark in a downwards fashion.

Rabbits and Hare will strip or gnaw on bark.

Wire netting fixed around the tree is a good deterrent, or tree guards. Chemical deterrents for rabbit, hare, or deer - Aaprotect. Although the product of choice, I'm unsure if it is still freely available and may be restricted in its sale.