Deer
Cervidae
Browse shoots, strip leaves, and fray bark on young trees. Fencing 1.8 m or taller, or a palette of deer-resistant plants, are the realistic options.
How to know it
Deer have no upper incisors, so browsed shoots are torn and ragged rather than cut cleanly — the single best way to tell deer from rabbits. Damage reaches from about 1 m to 1.8 m, well above rabbit height, and slot-shaped hoof prints confirm it.
What you'll see
- Shoots and leaves torn off raggedly, with damage up to head height and a browse line along a hedge.
- Roses, fruit trees and young shrubs stripped of soft growth overnight.
- Bark frayed and shredded on young trunks where a buck has rubbed its antlers.
- Cloven slot prints and flattened lying-up patches in long grass.
- Damage appearing at dawn and dusk, and repeating in the same places night after night.
Where it comes from
Resident and highly mobile all year. Browsing pressure peaks in late winter when other food is gone and again on the soft spring flush; bark fraying peaks in autumn and spring when bucks clean and mark with their antlers.
Gardens near woodland, parkland or river corridors — and increasingly suburban gardens, as muntjac and roe populations spread. Unfenced gardens with easy access take repeated visits along established routes.
Dealing with it
- Fence at 1.8 m for roe and fallow, 1.5 m of close mesh for muntjac — this is the only reliable answer.
- Fit tree shelters or mesh guards to young trees, tall enough to cover the browsing height.
- Cage individual prized shrubs and roses rather than trying to protect the whole garden.
- Rotate deterrents — scent repellents, human hair, soap, motion lights — since deer habituate to any one of them fast.
- Block the established route in and out; deer are creatures of habit and often use one gap.
Keeping it out
- Plant a deer-resistant palette where fencing is impossible: lavender, rosemary, sage, euphorbia, ferns, foxglove, daffodil, box.
- Guard every young tree at planting, above the browse line.
- Keep gates shut and check the fence line after storms.
- Group the plants deer love inside a fenced area near the house.
- Accept that in a bad winter, a hungry deer will eat almost anything on the "resistant" list.
What it goes for
Roses, fruit trees, beans, brassicas, tulips, hostas, ivy and the soft growth of most young trees and shrubs.
See also
The Cottage Garden Companion — the gardener's bestiary at cottagegardencompanion.com