Landscaping Hedges for Deer Control

Here on Vancouver Island, deer within new home developments like Trumpeter Pointe on Quamichan Lake creates a challenge to homeowners. You may come home to find deer in your yard as they have adapted to browse areas in urban and residential environments. New fertilized lawns, flowers and shrubs provide them a great source of nutrition.

Your initial selection of landscape plants and those for hedging that are more resistant to deer may help.

A popular hedging material is Arborvitae (Thuja plicata). The “Green Giant” variety can reach 20 to 30 feet, and can withstand yearly trimming to the desired height. Alternatively, choosing the dwarf variety will keep it in scale for your yard.

Mexican Mock Orange (Choisya ternata), a hardy evergreen shrub with fragrant clusters of white blossoms, is great for any sized garden. It can reach 8 feet, and requires little attention apart from a yearly trim. It is known to be deer tolerant with leaves having a pungent orange aroma.

Italian Buckthorn (Rhamus alaternus) is another good choice for hedging. Fast-growing, evergreen and tolerant of pruning, Buckthorn’s narrow form is useful on property lines with today’s lot sizes and setbacks.

Another favorite, although slow growing, is Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens). Readily available in most nurseries, it is an excellent choice for a formal garden. Depending on the variety, it can grow 3 to 20 feet tall, and withstands pruning to retain its shape.

Protect your landscape investment by planning ahead to minimize deer damage. Include a bit of homework and a visit to your local nursery to select deer resistant plants as part of your control measures. When purchasing a home from Nicon Developments, we will provide our new home owners details on all the plants on their new property.

There are several internet sites that offer lists of flowers, ornamental plants, trees and shrubs that are good for your area.

For more information you can check out the following websites:

http://www.gardenswest.com/qry/page.taf

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/cos/info/wildlife_human_interaction/docs/garden.html

http://gardening.about.com/od/gardenproblems/a/DeerResistant.htm