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| I planted an American cranberry bush last fall. It's doing reasonably well. A few weeks ago, it had pretty little white flowers, but now the bush looks half-empty. I don't think a beetle is the problem, because there are no holes in the remaining leaves. It looks as if an animal may be eating parts of the bush. Could deer be the culprit?
I have some pictures at the link below: |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Yes it does look like deer browsing to me. Do you have deer in the area that you know of? |
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| esh_ga: "Yes it does look like deer browsing to me." Thanks for the info. "Do you have deer in the area that you know of?" Indeed. One ate most of my 2-foot olive tree last week. :( I had an American cranberry bush for years that reached about 10 feet tall. Unfortunately, the power-line people cut it down because they said it was too close to their line. :P Anyway, that one never had problems like this, but maybe that's because it was in my front yard, and thus closer to our dogs. This one is far enough away that the dogs may not see the deer, especially at night. I thought American cranberry was supposed to be deer-resistant, though? I've seen our dogs crunching on some deer bones lately. Maybe that's a good thing. LOL. |
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| I have them too so I have learned to recognize that "clipped" look! Sometimes they eat things they are "not" supposed to; sometimes it is a young one trying things out. Nothing is ever deer "proof", unfortunately. I do a little spraying from time to time just to remind them what they "should not" be eating. |
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| Gardening plus deer minus adequate fencing equals zero fulfillment. They will always be targeting something and spoiling it, unless excluded. It can be a few shrubs here and there or numbers of them. |
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| esh_ga: I have them too so I have learned to recognize that "clipped" look! LOL. Has anything really worked for you to keep them away? I do a little spraying from time to time just to remind them what they "should not" be eating. I suppose I'll be doing that too. :) bboy: Gardening plus deer minus adequate fencing equals zero fulfillment. They will always be targeting something and spoiling it, unless excluded. It can be a few shrubs here and there or numbers of them. That makes sense. Of course, I've had trees and shrubs for years that deer never touched. I think it depends mainly on two things: 1) the kind of plant and 2) how easily deer can access it. At least we have two dogs around, so that does limit how adventurous the deer will get. |
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| I just found a reference for deer grazing on this shrub. From Illinois Wildflowers: White-Tailed Deer browse on the twigs and leaves. So maybe it shouldn't even be considered deer-resistant! |
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| Supposedly if you spray the same plants occasionally that the deer will learn to walk around that area. Depends on how much it rains (I don't do it more than once a month). I have learned to "cage" some plants or at least put a semi-decorative wire fence in front of them. Just enough of a suggestion to "keep going, nothing to see here". Good luck! |
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| esh_ga: Supposedly if you spray the same plants occasionally that the deer will learn to walk around that area. Depends on how much it rains (I don't do it more than once a month). OK, thanks for your help. :) Maybe I'll try one of these signs too. ;)
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