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Do Deer Eat Viburnum? (Quick Answers)

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Deer eat various kinds of plants. This is why deer are called herbivores. But there are some plants that deer do not eat due to some reasons.

You may ask if deer eat viburnum. Let us answer that question and provide you with the answer that you are looking for with some additional information regarding this matter as well.

Do deer eat viburnum?

Deer do not eat viburnum. The smell of viburnum is powerful. This is a big reason why deer do not eat it. Another reason is that this plant is densely hairy. Therefore, deer steer away from viburnum. Moreover, some viburnum species are mildly poisonous, which is why deer do not eat it.

Viburnum is a shrub type plant. This plant grows flowers and fruits. The leaves of this plant are simple. The plant itself is primarily hairy.

The flowers of this plant are always colorful. It also comes with a strong fragrance. The fruits come in a spherical or oval shape. Although some are edible, others are mildly poisonous.

Deer usually use a particular sense to understand their surroundings. They also use this sense to understand which of the plants they can consume. They use scent to understand these. 

This animal consumes and considers the environment when they do not smell any strong scent and danger as well.

Viburnum is a strongly scented plant. This scent stays all around the plant at all times. This is why deer do not eat viburnum. Also, the taste of the fruit of most of the varieties is not tasty. This is another reason why deer steer away from this plant for eating.

You might ask if deer eat particular parts of viburnum or not. Let us discuss if deer eat the common parts of viburnum or not.

Viburnum plants and shrubs:

Deer do not eat Viburnum plants and shrubs. The plant itself is densely hairy with star-shaped hair. This is why deer do not opt to eat viburnum plants and shrubs.

Viburnum flowers:

Deer do not eat Viburnum flowers. The flowers have a strong scent. The deer do not like this strong scent. Hence they steer away from eating them.

Are viburnum deer resistant?

Almost all viburnum varieties are deer resistant. Deer almost eat all kinds of plants that are near them. This is why it is easy to feed deer. If they like a plant after nibbling it a bit, they eat it. Otherwise, the animal does not eat for reasons like a strong smell or bad taste.

Viburnum has a huge variety and deer do not eat most of the types. Here is some common and widely grown viburnum and let us discuss if it is deer resistant or not.

Viburnum carlesii or Korean spice viburnum:

Viburnum carlesii or Korean spice viburnum is deer resistant. Deer do not like this viburnum as it has a strong scent like the other viburnum varieties. 

The strong scent of the viburnum plant keeps the deer away from consuming it as the strong scent identifies the plant as non-edible according to deer.

Viburnum opulus roseum or snowball viburnum:

Viburnum opulus roseum or snowball viburnum is deer resistant. This viburnum variety grows huge pom pom flowers. As the flowers of the viburnum plant spread a lot of scents, the snowball viburnum also does the same. 

Due to the big flowers, the scent of the plant is much stronger making it a strong deer repellent.

Arrowwood viburnum:

Viburnum dentatum or arrowwood viburnum is deer resistant. This is considered to be an effective deer resistant plant. Most deer do not try to eat this plant and are afraid of it. The main reason is that it comes with shrubs that have reddish fall foliage. 

This keeps the deer away and works effectively as a deer resistance.

Doublefile viburnum or summer snowflake viburnum:

Doublefile viburnum or summer snowflake viburnum is mildly deer resistant. This viburnum works like other deer-resistant viburnum plants. But the effectiveness of this plant is lower compared to other viburnum varieties. 

It was found that deer may damage this plant. But it may happen rarely.

Blackhaw viburnum:

Viburnum prunifolium or blackhaw viburnum is mildly deer resistant. This plant has similar effectiveness against deer and can keep deer away most times. 

But deer may seldom damage this plant as its effectiveness is lower compared to any better deer resistant viburnum plant

Chindo viburnum:

Viburnum awabuki or chindo viburnum is mildly deer resistant. This viburnum requires minimum care and can grow on a wide range of soils. But this plant has a similar deer resistant rating compared to blackshaw and doublefile viburnum.

Shasta viburnum:

Shasta viburnum is considered to be deer resistant. This viburnum is considered a great deer resistant plant. Due to its effectiveness, many areas use this variety of viburnum where heavy deer infestation is around. 

This viburnum works pretty well compared to other viburnum varieties.

Alleghany viburnum:

Alleghany viburnum is deer resistant. This viburnum variety is considered to have a richly textured shrub. Hence, the shrub will be densely hairy. Deer do not like hairy shrubs. 

Therefore, alleghany viburnum is not favoured by deer and works excellent in terms of being a deer resistant plant.

Sweet viburnum:

Sweet viburnum is deer resistant like almost all other viburnum varieties. This viburnum is considered to be another great deer resistant plant. This viburnum variety is basically grown in the Asian region. But recently, it has been found in the Texan region as well.

Sweet viburnum is considered to be fast growing and requires minimum care. Although this plant is small in size, it has excellent deer resistance due to its scent and hairy shrub.

Which viburnum are deer resistant?

There are many kinds of viburnum that are deer resistant. Viburnum is just the name of the plant. There are multiple varieties of this plant. Among them, there are some that deer do not like. This is why these varieties are deer resistant.

Viburnum carlesii or Korean spice viburnum, blackhaw viburnum, doublefile viburnum or summer snowflake viburnum, leatherleaf viburnum and many more are deer resistant. These varieties of viburnum have features that deer do not like. Therefore, these are deer resistant.

Do deer like viburnum?

Deer do not like viburnum. Viburnum is a strongly scented plant. Deer search for their food by smelling it. It does not like string scented plants at all. This is why deer do not like viburnum for eating.

It is also densely covered with star-shaped hair on the leaves. This hair hurts anyone who touches it. If a deer tries to eat it, it can get hurt by this plant. That is another reason why deer steer away from this plant.

Some viburnum species are also mildly poisonous. Therefore, those species do not taste good. This is another reason why deer do not like viburnum.

How to keep deer from eating my viburnum bushes?

Viburnum is referred to as a deer resistant plant. But no plant is actually deer resistant as deer can mistakenly consume them. Therefore, these plants have to be kept safe from deer.

If you want to keep deer away from eating your viburnum bushes, there are a lot of ways you can do that. But there are some simple tips you can follow. Here are some simple tips chosen by us to keep deer away from eating your viburnum bushes.

Set up a fence:

Setting a fence around your viburnum bushes can be the simplest method to keep deer away from eating. Set the fence around your garden area. The height of the fence needs to be more than usual. 

If not, deer may jump over the fence and damage the vibrinum plants or bushes.

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Use deer netting:

Deer netting is another simple technique to keep deer away from eating your viburnum bushes. If the bushes are small, set a frame above the plant. After that, attach deer netting to the frame. 

But keep in mind that the frame has to be made based on the size of the viburnum plant that you want to protect from deer.

Use motion traps:

You can also use motion detected traps to keep deer away. These motion traps use a sensor to detect movement around the area of operation. It scares deer away by light, sound, water, and many more ways when it detects motion based on the trap type.

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Spray deer repellent:

Although viburnum is a deer repellent plant, you may use deer repellent spray to keep deer away from your viburnum bushes. You may use chemical or homemade deer repellent spray. These will keep the deer away from eating your viburnum bushes.

Liquid Fence 70123 HG-70123 Deer & Rabbit Repellent Concentrate, 2.5 Gallon, 2.5-Gallon

Final thoughts

Deer do not eat viburnum. This plant has a strong scent and is covered with dense star-shaped sharp hair around the plant. These are the reasons why deer steer away from viburnum from eating it. But still, deer may eat it if food is scarce around where deer live and may cause problems for deer.

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