Deer Resistant Shrubs

Discussion in 'HortForum' started by latkins, May 2, 2007.

  1. K Baron

    K Baron Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,031
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    North Vancouver, B.C., Canada
    More specifically,
    I was refering to Deer resistant Citrus...? There are probably not many rogue deer in the San Joaquin Citrus belt....
     
  2. LPN

    LPN Well-Known Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    1,525
    Likes Received:
    10
    Location:
    Courtenay, Vancouver Island
    ... and yet there's another site,
    http://www.mckenzie-farms.com/photo.htm
    from which I have several citrus plants. Stan is the guru of hardy citrus in the US and has been featured on TV and a number of other formats including the SE Citrus Expo held annually. This ole boy has been growing citrus longer than I've been alive!

    Bob Duncan in Sidney BC (Vancouver Island) has a stunning array of citrus growing at his property. Various wintering methods from nil to moderate are used there.

    Cheers, LPN.
     
  3. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    629
    Likes Received:
    4
    Location:
    Victoria [Saanich, actually, northeast of Victoria
    Well, my special free anti-deer spray, available to anyone especially if one drinks lots of fluids, is working well, for how long who knows, but it is now into late autumn and the winter in Saanich and the nutritional needs of the deer will be a good test. The spray must be renewed on the foliage every week at least, maybe more in heavy rains. A huge spread of acreage would make it impossible to use, practically, unless one had a contract with an army base or something... Need I go into what it is, but it does require a convenient container and then transferring the contents to a good spray bottle. If kept in the garage to "ripen", i.e. if one is away for a couple of weeks, upon return it is especially rich in odour and even a human may recoil in a freshly-sprayed area...
     
  4. K Baron

    K Baron Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,031
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    North Vancouver, B.C., Canada
    There is no shortage of that liquid here, however, the rains are incessant during the winter... so keep up may be difficult...
     
  5. Laris

    Laris Member

    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Bowen Island, BC
    I am a Bowen Islander as well and over here there is an infestation of deer. The only predator being the automobile. I have done a ton of experimenting and the best luck I've had is with the following:
    Artemesia
    Lavender
    Pine
    Juniper
    Euphorbia
    All ornamental grasses
    Pieris

    Some Rhododendrons ( I have heard that they will eat them if they are planted in Spring but not Fall and I wonder if that is true because they have left some alone and stripped others)

    They ate an evergreen Magnolia. Skimmia, Nandina and Lavatera which were supposedly on the very resistant list...

    Aside from that, I have a 12 foot high lovely lattice fence! It took us years but we have fenced in almost a full acre....It's probably cheaper in the long run to pay for a fence than to lose a ton of lovely plants, not to mention a lot less stressful! My Shepherd didn't scare them and my yelling at them didn't work either...
     
  6. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

    Messages:
    11,417
    Likes Received:
    501
    Location:
    Britain zone 8/9
    How many experiments did you do to prove that?!?
    ;-)

    I've seen pines and junipers browsed here, so the same principle of 'don't take anything for granted' applies
     
  7. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    629
    Likes Received:
    4
    Location:
    Victoria [Saanich, actually, northeast of Victoria
    I heard on CBC Radio in Victoria this am some discussion of increased deer population in the lower Island... honestly, I don't know why they aren't "dealt with". Do we need them running around in suburban streets? In rural areas, can people hunt them here in BC? I can't see why they can't be caught, put in cattle-trucks and taken to an abbatoir for testing, proper slaughter and use as meat... maybe this is terribly politically incorrect, or something, but I am tired of the garden problems with these creatures, beautiful though they are. No one is using them properly, and they are just increasing in numbers. What's the problem, anyway?
     
  8. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

    Messages:
    11,417
    Likes Received:
    501
    Location:
    Britain zone 8/9
    Ever tried rounding up deer?!? About as easy as herding cats! If pressed, they can jump a 3 metre fence (I've seen a deer, unpressed, casually walk up to a 2 metre fence, stop, and hop clear over in an effortless standing jump).

    And of course the idea of having people going around with loaded rifles in suburbia . . . bit risky!
     
  9. Laris

    Laris Member

    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Bowen Island, BC
    Yes well, some of them are so bad they have been known to wander into people's houses over here ( hot summer..open doors...)and help themselves to the kitchen fruit bowl. A friend has a rather arrogant local buck that came in and got on her couch ( this is actually true, she told me this on Friday ) and was eating her stolen fruit! She had to wait until it decided to leave.
    From time to time we will have cougars that ride over on the log booms and prowl around, that seems to be nature's way of culling the population. Bit dodgy for the family kitty though.
    So, that just goes back to the automobile...LOL
     
  10. K Baron

    K Baron Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,031
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    North Vancouver, B.C., Canada
    Well, all these anecdotes are quite amusing... however, I will work with mother nature and not put up a fight ... I can see harmony and not aggression in my garden....

    Thanks for the input.
     
    Last edited: Nov 1, 2007
  11. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

    Messages:
    21,250
    Likes Received:
    786
    Location:
    WA USA (Z8)
    Nature will always do her best to get rid of all the non-native plants and plantings that are introduced to a site that is still largely natural. Gardens must be protected and tended.
     
  12. Gregn

    Gregn Active Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    212
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    North Vancouver
    Ron, they must be talking about the citrus fruit when they mention the 28 degrees. Yes depending on how long the cold lasts you would likely lose the fruit at 28 degeres. The plants, particularly cold hardy citrus hybrids can and do withstand temperatures into the single digits (F) I have a small 10 degree tangerine (clemintine X Yuzu ) which survived temperatures around 10 f with only some minor defoliation issues last November. (it lived up to its name I guess!!!)
    I have no Idea if citrus are deer resistant...

    Greg
     

Share This Page