Deer Damaged tree - Ask Extension
Deer rubbed their antlers and damaged the bark around the trunk leaving a narrow strip of bark intact. It is young peach tree around 12-15 ft tall. Th...
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Deer Damaged tree #931667
Asked May 14, 2026, 11:51 AM EDT
Deer rubbed their antlers and damaged the bark around the trunk leaving a narrow strip of bark intact. It is young peach tree around 12-15 ft tall. There are two suckers growing at the base. Should I leave them or remove them. I thought they might help provide nutrition to the roots. The main tree has leafed out completely but the leaves are not full size even though they look healthy. Any tips to help the tree survive? Should I add plant tone or other supplement ? I see some grey bark like tissue appearing in parts of the damaged zone.
Baltimore City County Maryland
Expert Response
Since fruit trees are often grafted, suckers aren't likely to be the same cultivar of tree, so you'd want to remove them. True, they are feeding the roots with carbohydrates, but you also don't want them taking over and depriving the desirable cultivar of resources like water and nutrients. Unfortunately there's not much you can do about buck rub (antler damage) except to give the tree time to form enough callus tissue (usually it's brown, not gray) around the injury to close it off, which may or may not happen before too much wood decay sets in or desiccation damage kills more tissues. (Do not coat the wound with anything, which could hamper that process, and don't fertilize, which might stress the plant further.) All you can do for now is to monitor the tree for watering needs given the ongoing drought that is stressing many plants.
Miri
Miri
