HELP! I have (had?) a beautiful camellia tree (4 years old) that the deer finally decided looked like deer candy this winter. The have eaten every leaf and all the blooms off of my tree. Does anyone know if it will grow new leaves in the spring? It's been a hard winter for our deer and they have eaten things they don't normally bother (they got half of my Yuletide camellia and half of a magnolia tree too Guess we will have to consider a bigger food plot for them next year

Thanks,
Marleine

I think the camillia will return,but may or maynot bloom next year.I know you normally trim just after blooming so not to damage next years buds.And from storm damage mine has had in the past it will make it fuller where they had their take out at the drive thru.yours might look strange like mine.fuller on one side.I've read that if you trim back to much you lose next seasons blooms.They make a deer skat spray.It should still leaf out.

Thanks Njoynit! Think I will put a fence around this tree. The deer only ate the leaves so hopefully it will retain its shape. I really appreciate your help

Marleine

The wood does sprout buds quite nicely, like when renovated to stubs for plants that outgrew a space.

So chances are good.

Thanks M.D. I checked it a couple of days ago and discovered it is putting on new leaf buds. Guess I better hurry down and put a fence around it so the deer don't get them too

I have Camillias and young Magnolias in my yard, and I have the same trouble. I have planted so many things just to have the deer eat it. One thing we did that does help, is that we buy corn and pour it out in one area in the back yard. They eat it up. We use one bag about every 7 to ten days. It's corn that has been shelled from the cob. It's 5 to 7 dollars for a 50 pound bag, depending on where you buy it. We get it from the feed store, and WalMart also carries it. Since we started doing that, we have two or three deer in the yard every morning. It seems they fill up on that and don't eat my plants anymore. For me, 7 dollars is a small price to pay to save my plants, plus we get the added bonus of watching the deer. Also, the squirrels and raccoons eat it, and I like to watch them too.

Thanks Linny. I actually tried corn but I have massive numbers of crows and they just LOVE corn too. They typically cleaned it up in about the first 30 minutes each morning. We do have a food plot we plant for the deer every year and they use it a lot. But we had a bad drought last summer and the green browse the deer rely on is getting off to a slow start this spring. Until this year they were leaving my trees alone--this is just a bad year for them.

Those darn thieving crows!

Sounds like you have the situation well in hand.