I'm going to start growing hops this year and was wondering if deer are overly attracted to them. We have a large yard surrounded by woods with many deer coming and going. My wife has a nice plan of a raised bed with trellis system that would work out well, I just don't want to stick them in the middle of my yard only to find it devastated by deer once they start to take off.
Can one Grow Hops in a deer infested area?
- Thread starter AAIndigo
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I had no problems with the deer last year other than getting them stepped on when they were just sprouting. The deer where I live normally eat everything but did not mess with the hops. To allow them to grow without getting trampled, I placed a 6 foot stake in the ground next to each plant and attached a cylinder of chicken wire to protect the sprouts. Worked well.
I have never had a problem with deer eating my hops. But the again, they are in a fenced in yard with two dogs.
I grow 8 varieties in my yard here in central MA. Although all mine are inside a stockade fence. So no deer problem (inside the fence that is), but I have a dog problem when it comes to trampling and a rabbit problem for nibbling of shoots. So protect the young shoots I build cages by wrapping chicken wire around a Sankey keg. Then I place one cage an inch or twon into the ground around each crown. It also helps with mulching and defining where the crown starts and lawn ends. I think once the bines get to a foot or so long the roughness of them will keep the deer and rabbits off them.
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