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| Hi, After babying along a bush that had already taken a beating from last year's winter and was doing really well, now today I noticed that there were many broken branches laying around. I can only assume that it was a deer. There were other branches from other nearby plants laying on the ground too. Will the bush come back? Is there anything I should do? I did prune back a few branches that were broke anyway. I was so glad to see that it made it through the winter, and bloomed nicely this summer. Now, there is not much left of it. Why is it always the stuff that you really like that something happens to? Thanks for any help. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by shadeyplace 7 (My Page) on Thu, Sep 11, 14 at 7:23
| It will come back. they say not to prune these until spring..but I suppose that has already been done. |
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- Posted by moistbutwelldrained 7b - N. Carolina (My Page) on Thu, Sep 11, 14 at 20:35
| Yes, the bush will come back. But so will the deer. Rats with antlers. :( |
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| Deer tried it and didn't like it--that's why the broken branches lying around. I've never heard of deer eating butterfly bushes. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian MI z5 (My Page) on Fri, Sep 12, 14 at 7:31
| they may come back.. depending on your zone.. and where you are in said zone .... and how bad this winter is... they are extremely short lived in my z5 ... and if they dont.. its probably not because of this .. most peeps severely cut these back anyway .... not to mention ... use of this particular common name.. rather than the latin.. can lead to confusion .... as there are a bunch of things that use this name ... ken |
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| If it was a deer and branches are broken, most likely a buck asserting himself by thrashing your shrubs with his antlers. Seems a little early for that, in my zone at least. Eating, deer typically neatly clip leaves and tips, but one November I had a buck leave the island bed in my circular driveway wearing a crown of rhododendron branches tangled in his antlers. Another was jabbing into a cotoneaster outside my bedroom last year and I ran him off, he came back later and broke it beyond saving. So much bark was removed, it died ;) |
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| I would tend to agree with morz8 that it isn't deer feeding since I also find them to be tidy eaters. Bucks often return to the same spot for rubbing off velvet, so you might want to put in some solid stakes and chicken wire for a bit to protect it. Any possibility it was human caused? |
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| nhbabs, when I've seen them in my gardens doing the thrashing, it's more of a display.....'look at me, I'm bigger, tougher, stronger, and have the best genes'...in other words, beginning of mating season. I don't know if the does are impressed or not, we did have many fawns running through here, and still do now this month ;) I had just told DH earlier in the week that I hoped the bigger, heavier males weren't going to be hanging out here so much this year, we've taken out some larger things that gave them protection and some of their favorite foods too, like the ivy, laurel, blackberry. A three point walked across the front and through the island bed just yesterday, up the stairs (they do use the stairs) of the hillside, crossed the street to the neighbors apple tree. |
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| " up the stairs (they do use the stairs) of the hillside " Lol I couldn't help laughing at this! |
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- Posted by Emerogork2 4 (My Page) on Sun, Sep 14, 14 at 15:04
| Many plants thrive by being chewed up by animals. I believe that butterfly bushes, and maybe forsythia, benefit from being cut down every year. I had butterfly bushes many years back and never pruned them. I think that is why they died out. I planted more in the same place and learned that they want to be chopped back and I have been successful with them ever since. Even if deer don't eat these plants, other animals do and it works for me. |
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