On Mon, 05 Jun 2006 14:26:53 -0400, Hoib wrote:

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


Sorry to hear about your deer issues. I can relate. Many of the properties
I take care of on Lummi island have the same issues. All you really can do
is a fence. With that said, the fence doesn't have to go to the moon and
it doesn't have to look ugly. Deer have very poor eye site and even worse
depth perception. If you place two short fences 3 feet apart, many of your
issues will disappear. I built a small pickett fence that was 37" high and
3 feet behind it I installed a "large animal" livestock fence that was 4'
high. The large animal fence is a wire fence that can be purchased at a
farm supply store.

Why it works...
It seems to work due to the deer's inability to correctly gage the jumping
distance. He figures that he can make it past the first fence but he'll
land on the second and be hurt. Many folks will say that the deer will
just jump over both and this has happened 3 time in 3 years. I personaly
believe that it was the same deer and he just seem desparate enough to
chance it. When deer are hungry enough they'll rip down a fence to get at
food.

Trim back the yews and protect them. Sound's like they'll come back over
time as long as they are protected from new damage.
--
http://resources.ywgc.com/info/