Help! The deer ate my lillies!

13 years ago

The deer ate the tops off my lillies and strip the stems about 3/4 the way down. What do I do now? Do I cut them back or will they re-grow a new top. The tops were full of buds. HELP!

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Comments (4)

alina_1
13 years ago
Welcome to the Lily world... Lilies are extremely delicious for deer and rabbits. Especially buds. They will not grow new stems this year. Do not cut remaining foliage, it will feed the bulbs for the next year blooming. Next spring start spraying your Lilies with deer repellent.
duluthinbloomz4
13 years ago
No, they won't regrow a new top this year. They're finished for the season. Leave what's left to brown out as they normally would - they need the remaining leaves and stems to replenish the bulbs for next year.

Although they'll come back good as new next season, you'll have to start protecting them. Liquid Fence works well for me when I start as soon as they emerge from the ground in the spring and as long as I remember to respray after rain.
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I've had that happen numerous times since we have so many deer around. Yes, they will grow back in time. Just feed them good and find something that will keep the deer away. The Internet is full of tips from people who have had some success with certain remedies. My favorite is Milorganite. It smells awful but I put up with it just to keep my daylilies. You'll have to reapply every few months according to how much rain you get. I'm going to pick up several bags today. Not cheap but worth it but you may want to try other tips from other growers. My 10 year granddaughter suggests that I sit up all night with a gun! (LOL) I know how disappointing it is to find my daylilies nipped off. Before I started using Milorganite I went away on a trip and was looking forward to seeing the new blooms when I returned. Deer had eaten most of mine. So heartbreaking! The only upside was that I didn't have many daylilies at that time. Now I have about 10 times as many and I would be totally devasted if that were to happen. You have my sympathy. I hope you find a remedy that works for you. DD
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I feel your pain. The same thing just happened to me. I also had reason to believe I was safe from deer for a while. Well the fencing is back up and will stay up for a long time until I thing the plants can handle a trimming. Ive done alot of research and thats the best way to go...
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butterfly428
13 years ago
this year I put moth balls around my plants and the deer stayed away....my neighbor says that they won't come back ever again (we'll see ;)....he says they remember that stinky smell and go elsewhere.....here's hoping
HU-711949784
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I got Lucky . I dug up my lilies and put them in a Fridge at 39 degrees for a month and replanted them, they came back up. Added Root tone and fertilized them more than normal but not to burn them. we will see if they Bloom!

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Help! The deer ate my lillies!

Comments (4)

alina_1

duluthinbloomz4

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