Do Deer eat Hydrangeas? (5+ Ways to keep them away)

Do Deer eat Hydrangeas? When you see that your plants are losing their leaves, blossoms, or half-eaten yields then you may be wondering about who eats them. Hydrangeas commonly known as hydrangea are a genus and include many species of flowering plants about 75 in number. All vary in the color of flowers and mostly are shrubs, few are tall as well.

If you have a house near the forest or backyard facing towards the woods, then there are chances that deer can get into your garden and eat the plants. Deer love to eat Hydrangeas, they will eat, the plant parts like leaves, flowers, stems, etc. the deers can jump the walls and get into the garden.

Deers love eating leaves, flowers, and many parts of plants. The tiny plants or shrubs are more prone to get eaten by deer. Though there is a lot of confusion out there about whether the deers eat hydrangeas or not. Would deers prefer eating hydrangea? Deers do eat hydrangeas, guys! But it depends on various situations and how you can get rid of or keep riders away from the hydrangeas. 

Do deer eat hydrangeas?

Deers don’t love hydrangeas though there are many plants in the garden that they prefer to feast on first. Deers love to graze and the plants like any plant they will eat, the plant parts like leaves, flowers, stems, etc. The deer can jump the walls and get into the garden. They will also reach the tall trees but what’s best if they get to eat the plants just near their limbs? 

The attractiveness of hydrangeas can attract deer to them. Deer cannot deny eating the hydrangeas if they are nearby to their food. They munch on mostly all the plants in the garden if they are super hungry and nobody is there to scare them. So how do you keep them away? Take a look below! 

How do you keep the deer away from hydrangeas?

1. Fencing and Netting

You can do fencing around the garden to keep the deer away. The height of fences can be kept at about 8 feet. The deer will find the fences difficult to jump and get into your garden to eat these plants away.

Many times healthy deer can easily jump off these fences at the night and by the morning you look that plants are destroyed and that’s disheartening.

An electric fence is the best option for keeping the deer far away from your bush. The deer will not come near the fence as they once get a mild current and sense that climbing the fence can be dangerous and you will then not have to worry. A good and proper netting that has a solid netted top can be seen as effective for deterring the deer.

2. Motion-activated sprinkler

The motion-activated sprinklers are devices that are highly motion-sensitive and so do the deer that can very quickly move something suspicious around and move.

They are afraid of quick and loud movements around and run away. The deer when approaching the bush the device is activated and makes a loud noise which scares the deer and they run immediately. 

3. Deer repellent sprays

The deer repellent spray is usually made of rotten eggs, garlic, and cloves and keeps the deer away. The unpleasant smell makes the deer feel in danger.

Deers hate gross smells especially rotten eggs as they sense some predator can be nearby. The good-smelling hydrangea can attract the deer but the decaying and strong pungent smell can help keep the deer away from the plant. 

4. Planting the plants nearby that deer hate

You can do some companion planting with hydrangeas. Planting the plants nearby the hydrangeas that will help the plant in growth or other way or might just stay neutral for them, but can be repellent to the deer.

The plants like boxwoods, cloves, garlic, and lavender can be planted to see some action.

5. The place radio playing in the garden or scarecrow

The radio can be placed in the garden with a loud voice so that deer feel that someone or some activity is going on in the garden. The deers don’t like too much noise, keeping the radio with a good noise will help the deers stay away.

The scarecrow can also be used in the garden with the image of giving a human appearance so that the deers stay away from the plants. This will not work in the garden at night time you might need to place the light behind the scarecrow, to create a shaded man-like portion to scare the deer. 

Do deers destroy the hydrangeas?

The hydrangeas if alone are present in the affinity of deer, then surely deer will eat whole hydrangeas. Another situation can be if the deers are super hungry then they will not leave even the hydrangeas in your garden.

The deers are hungry and eat a lot. The plants in the garden are not many and hydrangeas are nearby then they will eat them whole. Deers love the colorful tiny flowers and eat them too. 

How much do deers eat?

Deers eat too much when they are angry, they can simply clear your garden by the night. The deers eat about 6 to 8 percent of their whole body weight.

The more healthy the deer are, the more they will eat, and vice versa. It is seen that about 150-pound deer will need about 12 pounds of food in 24 hours. 

Are hydrangeas deer resistant?

Hydrangeas, if seen by deers and less food, are wound then the deers will eat them. Most species of hydrangeas are usually eaten by deer.

The flowers, flower buds, leaves, and stems of hydrangeas are easily munched by the deer. Some species of hydrangeas like oakleaf hydrangeas, and climbing hydrangeas, are somehow a little resistant to deer.

These are not much loved by the deers. You can plant these species if you want to keep the hydrangeas safe and away from deer. Other than this, there are other ways that you can read below. 

Will hydrangea bounce back after being eaten by deer?

Hydrangeas can grow back even after the deers eat them. The deers eat the plant’s parts and create a mess as well.

You need to check whether the buds are being nibbled or not. If the buds are still tight and intact then there are chances the plant will bloom back.

Wrapping up the content

We hope that you like the information and have understood the brilliant ways to keep the deer away from hydrangeas. Please let’s know what method was effective for you and worked for your garden.

Happy planting and keeping deer far far away.

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