Protecting Arborvitae & Yews From Winter Deer Browse

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Why January and February Are Worst

In Central PA, deer pressure on landscape plants peaks from mid-December through early March. The natural food they prefer — acorns, browse from woodlot edges, fallen apples — runs out. Snow cover makes ground forage even harder. By January the herd is in survival mode and an arborvitae hedge looks like an all-night diner.

The plants deer hit hardest in winter:

• Arborvitae (Thuja) — the #1 winter target in Central PA. Both Green Giant and Emerald Green get browsed bare from the ground up to about 5 feet.
• Yews (Taxus) — heavy browse target, especially Japanese yew foundation plantings.
• Rhododendron and azalea — leaves and flower buds.
• Hollies — including American holly and inkberry.
• Hydrangea — the woody stems, removing next year's bloom buds.

Plants deer mostly leave alone in winter: blue spruce, eastern red cedar, daffodils (in their bulb form), boxwood, and most ornamental grasses.

The Repellent Approach

The standard tool is a contact and odor repellent — products with putrescent egg solids, garlic, or capsaicin. They work on two principles: deer don't like the smell, and if they bite, they don't like the taste. Done right, they cut browse damage by 80–90%.

Timing — The Key Detail

This is where most homeowners go wrong. The first application has to go on before the deer start hitting the plants — once they've learned a plant is food, repellents work less well. The Central PA schedule:

• Late October / early November: first application. Plants are dormant or going dormant. Repellent dries onto the foliage and lasts 4–6 weeks.
• Late December / early January: second application. Reapply before peak pressure starts.
• Late February / early March: third application if pressure has been heavy. Carries through the last hungry weeks before spring green-up.

What About Snow?

Repellents work best when applied to dry foliage above freezing, then left to dry before rain or snow. We schedule applications around forecast windows — typically the day after a rain when temps are above 40°F. Snow itself doesn't wash off a dried repellent.

Physical Barriers — When to Use Them

For valuable specimen plants or hedges where you've already lost a season, physical barriers add insurance:

• Plastic deer netting over arborvitae through winter is the simplest fix. Take it off in spring. Ugly but cheap and effective.
• Burlap wrap on smaller foundation plantings. Doubles as winter wind protection.
• 8-foot fencing is the only fence that actually keeps deer out — anything shorter, they jump.

For a typical Harrisburg-area residential property, repellent applications are far less work than netting or fencing and the cost is comparable.

If the Damage Is Already Done

Arborvitae and yew don't refoliate from old wood — what's gone is gone. The lower 4–5 feet of a browsed hedge will stay bare permanently unless replaced. Two options:

1. Plant a low evergreen in front of the bare section (boxwood, inkberry holly) to screen the damage while letting the arborvitae continue to grow above.
2. Replace the worst-hit plants and start a repellent program day one to protect the new ones through their first winter.

Yews can occasionally regrow from older wood if browse wasn't too severe. Cut back hard in spring and watch for new growth at the base of damaged areas.

When to Call Us

If you've got a hedge or specimen evergreens you can't afford to lose this winter, get on the repellent calendar by late October. Call or text 717-379-3248 for a free walk-through. We'll identify which plants are at highest risk, recommend a repellent rotation, and time the applications for your property's specific pressure level.