Planting Berries for Deer

Berry Planting Strategies

• If deer have been decimating your prized berries or other garden vegetation, you can plant berries elsewhere -- perhaps at the outskirts of your yard -- to distract them from other plants. Some gardeners and hunters may want to turn the entire landscape into a deer-friendly landscape, which is easily done with native plants alone. Others may simply wish to provide some additional food supply for deer. Being clear about why you are planting berries for deer will help you decide where and how to plant, and even what to plant.

Blackberries

• Gardeners and hunters alike who want to provide summer and fall food for deer discover that deer love blackberries -- almost as much as they love peaches. People developing permanent deer-friendly habitat, including hunters, often plant at least four different types of blackberries, from very-early to very-late fruit producers, to provide berries from early summer into fall.

Other Berry Varieties

• Relying on native berries -- and many different kinds -- can extend berry season well into winter in many areas. Deerberry (Vaccinium stamineum), native to the eastern United States and found as far west as Texas, is among native berry plants that are popular natural browse for deer. Another is Strawberry Bush or Hearts-a-Burstin (Euonymus americanus), and other Euonymus species. Using the Rutgers University Extension deer-resistant plant chart in reverse, you can discover other berry varieties deer like best -- including high bush blueberries, Blue Leaf Holly, Nandina and Purple Leaf Sand Cherry.

Protecting Berry Plantings

• Whatever berries you plant, you'll want to protect plants and vines from being decimated by appreciative deer. Placing some sort of sturdy cage around and over the core of the plant is an effective strategy. You can use a suitable height of fencing wire to encircle the plants as one approach, or make an A-frame cage and box in both open ends. Deer can feed on branches and berries that grow outside the cage but cannot eat so much of any plant that plant survival is threatened.