Deer Problems and deer resistant plants
At this level you still have fruit trees and roses. A little damage is noticed every month or so, or once a year(during Deer Season) you have many leaves missing. At this level move the plants the deer like up near the house and or fence them. The fence can be very minor and still be effective at this level. This is the level all the deer tricks work, i.e., soap, lion pee, human hair etc.. If you are at this level plan on moving to a higher level as the area develops and the deer get smart.
At this level the only plants we have that will be eaten are:
(Cage all plants the first fall if you are watering or fall planting.)
Ceanothus griseus and C.griseus hor.
Ceanothus thyrsiflorus 'Snowflurry'
Cercocarpus spp.
The fruit trees have no fruit or leaves below 4'. Roses have every leaf removed each summer-fall. Plants listed as 'Deer proof' hold up well but are nibbled on once or twice/year. If you water, your plants will have more damage.
Do not plant these plants in this area.
Atriplex sp.
Arctostaphylos that are 'garden tolerant"
Ceanothus, most types will be browsed. Generally plant ones listed in the heavy section or 'Julis Phelps','Dark Star', C.verrucosus, C. gloriosus, C. maritimus, C.crassifolius, C.cuneatus, and C.toment. oliv. can be tried.
Fremontia has to be caged until it is tall and woody.
Lilium spp.
Lyonothamnus, cage until it is tall and woody.
Pines will have their new growth eaten if Bambi can
reach it. Cage the small pines.
Oaks plantings will be browsed on bad years.
Planting in the moderate level is easier in the spring. Fall planted plants need to be caged the first fall, (they're not safe as soon as you walk away)
At this level they're living with you. When you look out during the day you see them sleeping and they're in the yard all night checking out the plant material. At this level we've had oleanders and buckeyes eaten. Redwoods and other conifers have been pushed out of the ground by the bucks cleaning their antlers. All the plants on the other deer lists are gone in a night.
In the nursery we got to this level for a month two years in a row at the end of a 7 year drought. We found the only way we could keep the deer off of the plants was a 7 foot fence, combined with a motion detector. We got so we recognized the different deer that were 'regulars' on the nursery site. The healthy 'regulars' that had lived in the area their whole lives never gave us much problems. Deer are fairly smart and will learn fast which side of the fence doesn't have a crazy person in his underwear running around screeching at them.
We have experienced some problems with deer that had been forced out of their habitat. Most deer do not ever range further than a mile from where they were born. When the drought removed their water source they became disoriented and depressed. I know that sounds funny for a deer to be depressed but the deer that 'invaded' our deer area were. It got so bad at the end of the drought that they were turning on me and two of them and I were in full battle at 2 in the morning. I was so mad that I was hitting them while the deer were trying to knock me down with their hooves. After dancing with them for awhile, and losing, I finally connected with an 8 foot 2X6 and they figured that I was crazier than they were, and they left. The point is, that when deer get this desperate you need to plan on problems.
Do not expect bars of soap or hair to protect your plants. Your yard may be stripped of everything but the bars of soap. All the other wive's tales do not work either.
We found that in our situation we had to put in a fence they couldn't easily climb, or crawl under and a motion detector that was connected with an intercom so I was awakened when a deer went to eat the plants. Before I did these two, I had to sleep in the pots.
The deer fence doesn't have to be a fort, simple is often better. If you have a slope you can get a by with a much lower fence. We have one section that is next to a 45% slope that has 3 foot of orchard fence(3 X 4 inch weave) with two strands of barbed wire above it making a 4' fence. They have never jumped it. They have jumped our 7' fence only once that I know of and that was a large buck. (It took him several tries.) They love to crawl under things like gates. We've had them crawl under a gate with a 5" gap.
In this situation we've had some plants completely removed. One buck ate 1200 Fremontias in one night. They apparently hate Baccharis because they would come through and pull out 100+ each night and spit the plants out next to the pots. Didn't eat them, just spit them out.
In these type sites we advise the customer to try a few of these plants to see if they pass the 'test'.
We also want you to stop watering as fast a possible. Watering doesn't allow the plant to form protective resins(and a few other things) and will make a normally stinky leaved plant like elderberry odorless and edible(to the deer).
Acacia Greggii, Catclaw. A well armed shrub-tree that has yellow flowers. They eat new growth only.
Amorpha calif., False Indigo. A dec. shrub that slowly grows to 4-5'. Deep purple flowers. Native on the property. The deer have never touched. Difficult to grow. Never large numbers available.
Baccharis pilularis 'Pigeon Point' If you cover it for the first year with chicken wire so the deer can not pull the plants up. Plant gallons 8 foot apart and you should have a flat groundcover(really flat if you have deer) in about 2-3 years.
Ceanothus 'Blue Jeans' has been deer proof on all but one site to date. It grows to 3-4 foot tall and 4 foot wide. It has bright blue flowers on dark green foliage. If heavily watered or in rich soils they may eat all of these. (Generally the upright Ceanothus with the hard leaves like cuneatus, greggii, or rigidus are very resistant.)
Ceanothus 'Mills Glory' has been deer proof on all sites. It has dark green foliage and blue flowers on a 3' tall and 6' wide.
Ceanothus 'Snowball' has been deer proof on all sites. It has white flowers on a green holly-leaved 3' tall shrub that grows to 6' across.
Cupressus species. The deer don't seem to eat this at all. Drive 3 T-posts (bumps out) next to these after they get 4-5' tall. The bucks like to clean their antlers and the idea of them going along the steel bumps with their antlers will be appealing if you get to this stage.
Diplacus species. The monkey flowers have not been eaten to date.
Erigeron glaucus, Seaside daisy. A fleabane. 'Wayne Roderick' seems to be very deer proof on most sites. Other forms have varied from never being touched to never having more than a bump on the stem. BUT, don't try more than a few the first year.
Ferns. The native ferns seem to be safe.
Iris species. They have not eaten these plants on sites with as many as 14 deer bedding on the site. They have eaten the non-native ones. Unknown if safe on sites where they are not native. They do not bother them in the nursery either.
Monardella species. A little perennial with pink or purple flowers. Scented like a mint.
Satureja douglasii, Yerba Buena. This one will be deer proof if you let it become summer dormant.
Sequoia sempervirens, Coast Redwood. Same as Cupressus
Sequoiadendron giganteum, Giant-Sequoia. Same as Cupressus
Our 'Manual of Calif. Native Plants' also has a different look.