Trees for deer
Two people arrive at this page wanting opposite outcomes. One is planting a mast orchard to hold deer on a property. The other is trying to stop deer stripping a young apple tree. They need exactly the same facts: what each tree drops, when it drops, how many years before it produces, and how long a sapling needs protecting before it is out of reach. 13 trees below, with the honest notes attached.
Hard mast: nuts and acorns
The autumn and winter calorie source. Deer work through acorns in preference order set by tannin content: white oak group first because it is sweetest, red oak group later because it is bitter, which is useful because it spreads the supply across months rather than weeks.
- White OakQuercus albaOccasionally damaged
- Drops
- September to October
- Bears from
- 20 to 30 years
- Hardiness
- Zones 3–9
The acorn deer choose first. Low tannin, sweet, and cleaned up before anything else on the ground.
- Chestnut OakQuercus prinusOccasionally damaged
- Drops
- September to October
- Bears from
- 20 years
- Hardiness
- Zones 4–9
White oak group, so low tannin and high preference. Takes dry ridge ground that other oaks refuse.
- Northern Red OakQuercus rubraOccasionally damaged
- Drops
- October
- Bears from
- 20 to 25 years
- Hardiness
- Zones 4–8
Higher tannin than white oak, so taken later. That is a feature: it holds food on the ground into winter.
- Chinese ChestnutCastanea mollissimaOccasionally damaged
- Drops
- September to October
- Bears from
- 3 to 5 years
- Hardiness
- Zones 4–8
More carbohydrate and less tannin than any acorn, and it bears a decade sooner. The highest-value nut tree you can plant.
- Sawtooth OakQuercus acutissimaOccasionally damaged
- Drops
- Early September
- Bears from
- 5 to 10 years
- Hardiness
- Zones 6–9
Bears young and drops before the native oaks, which is exactly why it is recommended so often.
Before you plant it. Not native, naturalises readily, and increasingly treated as invasive across the southeast. Several state programmes that once promoted it have stopped.
- European BeechFagus sylvaticaSeldom damaged
- Drops
- September to October
- Bears from
- 30 to 40 years
- Hardiness
- Zones 4–7
Heavy beechnut crops, but only every few years and only on a mature tree. Not something you plant for a result.
Soft mast: fruit
Sugar rather than fat, and it matters most either side of the nut crop. The variable worth planning around is drop time: a mix that runs from June serviceberry through to persimmon holding fruit in November keeps a property in food far longer than any single species.
- American PersimmonDiospyros virginianaOccasionally damaged
- Drops
- September to November
- Bears from
- 6 to 10 years
- Hardiness
- Zones 4–9
Holds fruit after leaf drop, which keeps deer returning to the same tree through the rut.
Before you plant it. Dioecious. Only female trees fruit, and you cannot tell which you have until they flower. Plant several or buy grafted.
- CrabappleMalus sp.Occasionally damaged
- Drops
- September to December, by cultivar
- Bears from
- 3 to 5 years
- Hardiness
- Zones 4–8, genus range
Tougher and less work than a grafted apple. Choose persistent-fruiting types and mix drop times across the property.
- AppleMalus sp.Occasionally damaged
- Drops
- August to October
- Bears from
- 3 to 5 years
- Hardiness
- Zones 4–9, genus range
The obvious one. Wants more spraying and pruning than crabapple to keep producing.
- Common PearPyrus communisOccasionally damaged
- Drops
- September to October
- Bears from
- 4 to 6 years
- Hardiness
- Zones 4–8
Longer-lived than apple and less prone to the same disease load. Underused.
- Downy ServiceberryAmelanchier arboreaSeldom damaged
- Drops
- June
- Bears from
- 4 to 6 years
- Hardiness
- Zones 4–9
Early summer fruit, which fills the gap when almost nothing else is dropping.
- English HawthornCrataegus laevigataSeldom damaged
- Drops
- September into winter
- Bears from
- 5 to 8 years
- Hardiness
- Zones 4–8
Persistent fruit and thorny cover in the same plant. Good edge and screening value.
- PlumPrunus domesticaFrequently damaged
- Drops
- August to September
- Bears from
- 3 to 5 years
- Hardiness
- Zones 4–9
Rated Frequently Severely Damaged, which tells you everything about how hard deer hit it.
Protecting young trees
This part is identical whichever outcome you want. Every tree on this page needs protecting for its first three to five years, including the ones planted specifically to feed deer. A whip with its leader browsed off loses a season and often its shape permanently, and a buck rubbing a two-inch stem in October will girdle and kill it outright.
A tube or a welded wire cage until the lowest branches clear about six feet, which is as high as a deer can comfortably reach. Cages want to be wide enough that the animal cannot press the mesh against the trunk and browse through it. For anything beyond a handful of trees, fencing the block costs less than caging individually.