Deers are interesting animals with an even more interesting food habit. They feed on a range of plants including berries, flowers, herbs, and more. You will find them enjoying a strawberry one day and some roses the next day. They like to indulge in a bunch of flowers.
But do deers eat camellias? If so, what steps would you have to take in order to protect your camellia plants from a deer invasion? We’ll find out in this article. Read ahead to dig deep into the food habits of deers and how you should respond to them.
Do deer eat camellias?
Deers eat camellias. In fact, deers feed on a variety of flowers and plants. Their food habit includes camellia, rhododendron, roses, daisy, tulip, and more. In addition, they eat a number of fruits including berries, beetroot, and so on. Camellia shrubs, however, are deer resistant.
Deers do eat camellias. They will eat camellias when no other natural food source is available around them. It is not their preferred food, but they will eat the plant anyway.
If you are trying to enlighten your garden with beautiful blooms of camellia, you will need to work on keeping deers away. And if you’re wondering how you can keep deers away from your house, there is no need to worry.
There are several ways that you can deter deers away from your garden. You can use commercial deer repellent for the task.
Or you could opt for homemade remedies as well. In addition, human hair works like magic in repelling deers from your yard or garden.
Note that deers will not only eat the leaves of your camellia plant. But they will also indulge in the beautiful bright flowers, which must have enchanted the aesthetic value of your garden. In addition, deers like to eat the camellia shrubs, so you might want to protect the entire plant from the hands of the deers.
Camellias flowers:
Deers eat camellia flowers with great interest. They enjoy eating the camellia flowers and will feast on your plant whenever they can access it. They enjoy a good bloom.
So you will need to keep your camellia plant safe from deers with utmost care. Otherwise the entire bloom will be eaten in one day. You can use commercial deer repellents.
But if you want to opt for home remedies, then you will find a handful of ways to keep deers away from your garden.
Camellias buds:
Deers do not generally prefer eating camellias buds. But they will eat it if they do not have other alternatives. Deer will eat camellia buds if their preferred natural sources of food are not available.
So you will need to protect the camellia buds in your trees if there are many deers living around you. All in all, be aware of your surroundings, and if you notice that deers are entering your garden, safely cover the camellia buds.
Camellias leaves:
Deers also enjoy eating camellia leaves. In fact, this is one of the most indulging parts of the camellia plants for deers. They will eat the camellia leaves, especially when they do have access to other natural food sources.
Deers like eating leaves. And leaves of the camellia plants come at the top of the list of food they like. So you will need to be protective of your camellia leaves if there are deers trying to invade your property.
Camellia plants:
Yes, deers eat camellia plants. In fact, it is one of their favorite plants to indulge on. So you will need to take necessary actions in order to protect your camellia plants from a deer invasion. Otherwise your plant will soon be eaten by deers.
Camellia bushes and shrubs:
Deers will not eat camellia bushes and shrubs. They are particularly repelled by the camellia bushes and shrubs that are too dense.
So if you’re trying to protect your garden from deer invasion, plant a few camellia bushes around your garden and ensure that they grow thick and bushy.
Do deer like to eat camellias?
Deers do not like camellia much. But they will eat camellia when there are not any other natural food sources available around them. So you will have to be careful with your camellia plants when there are many deers living around your garden.
Deers are not particularly fond of camellias. They are not attracted to this plant. But it makes a good food source when there are no alternatives available.
Deers, however, are repelled by bushy camellia plants. They cannot withstand a thick and dense camellia plant. These plants will repel them and deter them from the grounds.
So if you’re trying to protect your garden from deers, you can plant some bushy camellia plants around the garden.
In addition, you can keep human hair along the sides of the garden in order to repel deers from your area. Human hair repels deers. You can also use commercial deer repellents.
Are camellia deer resistant?
Camellias are not deer resistant. Deers may invade a camellia plant if they do not find any other natural food source in the region. While they are not particularly fond of camellia plants, they will eat it when they want food. So you will need to be careful with your camellia plants.
However, deers are repelled by thick and bushy camellia plants. Camellia bushes are deer resistant. Let’s take a look at different kinds of camellia plants and whether these camellias are deer resistant.
Camellia japonica or Japanese camellia:
Camellia japonica or Japanese camellia plants are not deer resistant. But if these plants grow too thick, they may deter deers from the ground.
Deers are not particularly impressed by thick bushes or shrubs. So they will keep away from a japanese camellia plant if it grows too thick for them.
Yuletide camellia:
Yuletide camellia plants do not repel camellia plants. Deers may come near one, and even indulge in its flowers if they cannot find other food sources around.
But these plants will give them a caffeine rush for sure. So they are not fond of yuletide camellia plants.
Camellia sinensis:
Camellia sinensis are not deers resistant in general. But the thick plants will deter deers. If you notice that your camellia sinensis has grown quite thick, you can rest assured that deers will not come near the plant anytime soon.
However, if there are no alternate food sources available in the region, they will come near the plant and may even invade its flowers and buds.
Shi shi gashira camellia:
Shi shi gashira camellia are deer resistant. This is because these camellia plants are quite thick.
In addition, deers are not particularly fond of this type of camilla as they will give the deers a caffeine rush after they eat them.
October magic ruby camellia:
October magic ruby camellia is deer resistant. They are also drought tolerant. So you can grow them in regions where there are low levels of rainfall or high temperatures.
Kanjiro camellia:
Kanjiro camillias are deer resistant. They will keep deers away from your garden. This is because these plants can get quite bushy and thick. So it will keep deers away from your garden.
How do I keep deer from eating my camellias?
There are several tips you can follow in order to keep deer from eating your camellias. Read ahead to learn more:
Put up a fence:
If there are frequent deer invasions in your garden, you should take the issue seriously. In this case, it would be wise to build a fence around your garden.
Make sure that the fence is tall enough so that deers cannot cross it. It should be at least eight feet tall. Also ensure that the fence is strong enough, so that they cannot take the fence down.
Place human hair around the plant:
Deers are repelled by human hair. So you can leverage human hair to keep deer from eating your camellias. Carefully place some human hair at the base of your camellia plant.
You should also place a few handfuls of human hair along the boundary of your garden. This will keep deers away from your property.
Use commercial deer repellents:
If the deer invasion gets too serious and too frequent, you should opt for some commercial deer repellents. You will find many such products that can be applied on outdoor plants. Cover your camellia plants with such deer repellent sprays.
Final thoughts
Deers will eat camellias when they cannot find a better food source in the area. They are not particularly attracted to camellia plants, but it will make a good food when they are running short on nutrition. So make sure to protect your camellia plant if you notice deers in your area.