My Deer Garden

Is Fothergilla deer resistant?

Fothergilla sp.

White bottlebrush flowers of fothergilla
Photo, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.
Seldom damaged

Light browsing at worst; rarely ruined.

Rating source: Rutgers NJAES E271

About Fothergilla

Honey-scented white bottlebrushes in spring and outstanding scarlet and orange autumn colour on a compact native shrub. Needs acid soil and does not tolerate lime.

Soil and care

Soil pH
4.5 to 6
Drainage
Consistently moist
Water
Moderate
Spacing
47 to 71 in apart
Growth rate
Slow
Maintenance
Low

Similar to Fothergilla

Other shrubs with the same deer rating.

Where Fothergilla grows

Hardy across most of these 50 states on zone range alone. Mountain and coastal areas sit outside the ranges used here, so check your own zone before ordering.

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Every list Fothergilla belongs to.

Hardy in these zones

Common questions about Fothergilla

Is Fothergilla deer resistant?
Fothergilla (Fothergilla sp.) is rated Seldom Severely Damaged on the Rutgers NJAES four-tier scale. Light browsing at worst; rarely ruined.
What hardiness zones does Fothergilla grow in?
Fothergilla is hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8. Outside that range it will either not survive winter or will struggle with summer heat. That is the range across the genus, so a named species or cultivar may be narrower.
Does Fothergilla grow in shade?
Yes. Fothergilla tolerates part shade, which makes it one of the options for a shaded bed where deer also browse.