Hope this is the right section for this - I think it may be. I have developed a strategy for next winter to keep deer off my yews. I'm going to try to "wrap" them in something, maybe burlap. It was purely hopeless this year out here where the herd is so large. Repellents, tin cans with marbles and Irish Spring soap did little if any good. My next door neighbor, bless him, feeds the deer leftover fruits and veggies during the winter which is why I'm sure they're around...
Anyway, the deer striped back large portions of all my yews at the front of the house. Some are worse than others as I now have nice looking "sticks" where green once was. But, on one low height yew for example, the little darlings missed a clump of about 3 small branches near the back (say, 5% of the total) which are now showing new growth! The sticks are not unfortunately, except that I see tiny tiny little sprouts right off the bottom of the base of the main stalk. This tells me the bush is still alive in there - I frankly thought the whole bush was a gone-er. I have this nice looking fir tree next to it (about 10 feet tall) that, from about 5 feet down looks like a bomb hit it. Gorgeous lush greenery from 5 feet up though! I'd like to see if I can preserve a-n-y of this and not have to go through the expense and the work etc. etc.

My question is: How far gone would a yew have to be before I give the heave-ho? IOW, if it's got even a little greenery will it survive? And, if a few others have no greenery at all, do I pull them or do they have any chance at all and if so, is there a recommendation from the group as to what to do? Are there any thoughts about any successful anti-deer strategies? None of the local nurseries around here are very helpful at all. If you aren't buying anything, you're a leper! :-)

Thanks for any thoughts or input.


Hoib