• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Home Garden Joy
  • Home
  • How to Garden
    • Seed Starting
    • Plant Profiles
    • Tools & Equipment
    • Raised Bed Gardening
  • Vegetables
  • Fruit
  • Herbs
  • About
    • Books & Classes
      • Herbalism Classes
      • Books for Christian Herbalists
      • Privacy Policy

Signs of Deer Damage

August 18, 2014 by Jeanne

Signs of deer damage are easier to recognize than you’d think. Neatly trimmed (bitten) off branches, and favorite plants like hosta eaten to the ground are all signs of deer damage.

Photo by hotblack/Morguefile.com license
Photo by hotblack/Morguefile.com license

Bambi may be cute in the movies, but the damage that she does to your home garden can be extensive. Before I moved to rural Virginia, I’d never seen deer damage in the garden up close and personal.  Rabbits, sure. Slugs, of course. But deer? Never.

The first year I planted hosta in my shade garden, every single one disappeared. I thought they had simply died, but I planted annuals instead each year in the same area of the garden. This year, I divided hosta in the garden near our patio, and planted the divisions in the shade garden area. They were just starting to take root and flourish when I went outside to water them a few evenings ago and saw this:

hosta

This is a classic example of deer damage.

Typical Signs of Deer Damage.

Deer leave telltale signs when they munch on ornamental plants:

  • Leaves, stems and flowers completely bitten off, as in the photo above. Rabbits tend to nibble and insects eat around the margins of leaves or in the center, but rarely chomp off entire leaves like this.
  • Trampled plants near the eaten plant. Deer hooves smash nearby plants. In the photo above, there were ferns growing to the right, more transplants from areas of my garden. One was ground into the soil from a hoof.
  • Bark rubbed on nearby trees.
  • Deer droppings or scat left nearby. Deer droppings look like rabbit droppings, only larger. Think black marbles.

I created this infographic to show you the points made above:

signs of deer damage
Typical signs of deer damage

Hosta are like candy to deer. I grow them successfully directly against the house, but whenever I try to grow them in the perennial garden near the woods, this is the result.

If anyone tells you a plant is “deer proof”, they don’t know what they’re talking about. No plant is completely deer proof! Hungry deer will eat anything – anything! However, there are some plants they love, and some they avoid if they can.

The key to gardening successfully in areas where white-tailed deer are prevalent is to plant deer resistant varieties. Rutgers University published a paper on deer-resistant landscape plants (you can download it here).  If your garden, like mine, is on a path frequented by deer, be smart and plant deer resistant plants. Or else accept the fact that some, like my poor hosta above, will get eaten by the deer.

Some gardeners swear by products like Milorganite, an organic compound that has a scent that is said to repel deer. Home remedies abound. For example, I’ve heard of deer repellent recipes that include human hair, dog hair, strongly scented soaps like Irish Spring or Life Buoy, or other scents to repel deer. None have proved effective in my garden. I brush my long haired German shepherd dog, Shadow, daily, and leave piles of her hair around the garden. Aside from giving the local bird population some nice soft dog hair to line their nests with, it doesn’t do anything to repel deer. I’ve tried sprays, but not Milorganite – a neighbor swears by that product but I can’t vouch for it. The only thing I’ve found to be effective is to plant perennials and shrubs that deer find distasteful.

If Bambi frequents your garden, learn from my mistake. Plant hosta near the house, like this patch in my garden, below, if you love the plant as much as I do. If you plant it where deer can access it easily, enjoy the stubs, because that’s all that will be left!

hosta

More Gardening Articles

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy:

  • Identifying Good vs. Bad Bugs in the Garden
  • How to Identify Bugs by Their Cocoons
  • Squirrel and Deer Proof Your Tulip Bulbs

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Previous Post: « Pepper Problems: When Peppers Go Wrong
Next Post: Fresh Food Wednesday: Easy Banana Bread Recipe »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Josephine Wake

    August 19, 2014 at

    Poor Bambi, maybe he was hungry.

    • Jeanne

      August 19, 2014 at

      Maybe – but we have 3 acres of grass for her to eat, and across the road? 400 acres of prime forage! No way does Bambi need my hosta…!

Primary Sidebar

Let’s Connect!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

As Seen in Porch

 As Seen in Porch

We were featured in Porch.com and answered reader's questions about indoor plants.

Explore All Gardening Articles

a closeup of watermelon

Watermelon in the Home Garden

a zucchini growing in a raised bed

Growing Zucchini in Raised Beds

kale growing in a raised bed

Replenishing Raised Bed Garden Soil

raised bed garden

How to Build a Vegetable Garden Using Raised Beds

Herbalism Classes & Supplies

Goods Shop by Herbal Academy – botanically inspired products

Disclosure

Home Garden Joy participates in two affiliate programs: Amazon and The Herbal Academy. Home Garden Joy earns a commission from qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate. As an Herbal Academy Associate, HGJ also earns a commission when you sign up for classes or purchase herbs or supplies from The Herbal Academy. Herbal information and recipes on this site are provided for educational purposes only.

Footer

a zucchini growing in a raised bed

Growing Zucchini in Raised Beds

Growing zucchini in raised beds ensures that this prolific vegetable has the best conditions to thrive. You can grow zucchini in pots or containers, but I prefer growing it in raised beds. This is a great vegetable to grow if you have a “black thumb” and kill plastic plants, because it’s hard to grow a…

Read More

a close up of onions

How to Grow Onions in Your Backyard

Wondering how to grow onions? I’ve grown onions here at Seven Oaks Farm in several ways: from “sets” or starter plants and from store-bought onions that sprouted in the bag! Onions don’t require much space, and you can grow a lot for the money you spend on starter plants. Let’s take a look at how…

Read More

butternut squash growing in a raised garden bed

How to Grow Butternut Squash Organically

Learning how to grow butternut squash organically ensures you know how to grow this tasty, nutritious vegetable in your home garden. I’ll share with you some basic information on growing butternut squash, followed by some organic gardening tips that have been helpful for me here at Seven Oaks Farm in dealing with the various pests…

Read More

herbs in a pink dish

How to Make the Perfect Cup of Herbal Tea

Make the perfect cup of herbal tea, right from your own garden! In May, I gave two free talks on how to grow, harvest, dry, and create your very own herbal teas. This lecture proved so popular that I recorded the narration and uploaded it to YouTube. You can view it below: Supplies to Make…

Read More

  • Privacy Policy
  • About
  • Awards

Copyright © 2025 Home Garden Joy on the Foodie Pro Theme