I planted 6 new trees in my orchard and of all of the trees in my woods, the deer decided to eat the leaves off of my new trees.
Does anybody have any ideas to keep them away from my trees?
I believe that they may have killed the cherry tree and nearly killed two apple trees.
Is there anything I can do to promote leaf growth and save the trees that they damaged?

Scotty

There is supposedly an hallucinogenic effect deer experience from eating the leaves of European plum and cherry leaves, similar to acid for humans. They apparently ‘dig it’ and will go out of their way to eat those leaves in particular - and not stop they’re gone…

There are folktale remedies all over the place but the bottomline is: fence them… until they’re out of the deer’s reach - usually in 3 to 4 years. It’s an expensive burden but a must-do if you want to have fruit trees anywhere near the woods. I know, I’ve got both deer and elk… not to mention the black bear

(after protecting them) I’d make sure the damaged trees are fertilized, mulched & watered well, but of course not ‘too much’ of either. They should re-leaf. If it gets extremely hot, I’ve shaded mine with a tarp draped over a 3-legged orchard ladder or similar device. And it’s worked! …don’t know how many people I’ve warned about deer …as few listen until the damage is done. And they’re everywhere!

Until I get some fence I am trying irish spring soap in some panty hose.
Thank you for the advice. I can't believe these have only been in a week and they have nearly destroyed them already.


Scotty

What does the soap in the panty hose do. Is it the smell or ????

Someone in the last few weeks posted that they had very good success with planting fava beans out to beyond the drip line. Apparently the deer avoid the fava beans and thereby don't get to the fruit trees.

I trimmed my barberry bushes and strapped them around my young plum trees. The deer weren't able to eat the leaves without getting poked, and they've left them alone since then. I'm not sure how well this will work once they get older, though.

I put some photos of this on plantworking.com: http://www.plantworking.com/updates/4c7 ... 0d06000003

People have been having luck around here with spraying that Plantskyd stuff on the trunks. That is probably the cheapest and fastest solution right now.

Scotty-keep in mind that Viron's technique will never work for dwarf trees. The deer will be able to get to everything. Standard trees can have limbs that are too high for deer. Check the rootstock of the trees you're growing to make sure that is what they are.
John S
PDX OR

Been off line for a couple of days.
Thank you for all of the replies. Some of the trees are dwarf however; I plan to plant full size trees for all of those that the deer have killed.

The soap has an odor that smells like humans and the deer tend to avoid it.
The other day I bought Irish spring soap and panty hose, hung that from the tree, tied softener sheets to each tree, collected human hair from the local beauty shop and put that at the trunk of each tree. These techniques seem to have worked as the deer are leaving the trees alone now.
I did however go one step further. I read on the internet that the deer are strict vegetarians and do not like the smell of flesh at all. With this in mind, I went to the local locker in town and got some waste cuttings from a friend of mine. So now my trees smell like Irish spring and rotten flesh with a hint of softener sheets.

Hey, whatever works right?

I love it. Totally blue collar. Cheap, convenient and at our disposal is always better than expensive, hard to get and controlled by others, in my book.
John S
PDX OR

That's interesting, but its hard to believe that the thorns are detering deer. They love to eat blackberries and seem to not even notice the nasty thorns.

Update for today
I dont know if it is the soap, human hair or the dead stuff but the leaves are coming back on my trees and the deer seem to be leaving them alone.

Scotty

Mix one slightly beaten egg with 1 quart of water and spray onto anything that the deer eat. You have to re-apply this about every 4-5 days or after a rain but it really works!

The eggs and water seem to have worked as well.
I have no damage for the past couple of weeks.
I did plant a cherry tree and the leaves are drooping a little. This is not a problem with lack of water but I don't know how to bring the tree out of it.
Is there anything I can put on the tree to make it perk back up?

We actually use pie tins throughout the area and it deters the deer from coming near them. Between the chance of bumping them and also the wind blowing them it seems to work pretty good. But, I suppose if the Deer are hungry enough they will do anything.