How to prevent deer from eating my Nellie Stevens Holly - Ask Extension
Deer have eaten the bottom 2/3 of a Nelly Stevens Holly I planted in my Columbia backyard last spring. Us it safe to spray Deer Out on it and is this ...
Knowledgebase
How to prevent deer from eating my Nellie Stevens Holly #947915
Asked October 30, 2026, 10:39 AM EDT
Deer have eaten the bottom 2/3 of a Nelly Stevens Holly I planted in my Columbia backyard last spring. Us it safe to spray Deer Out on it and is this likely to deter them? If not, what would you suggest?
Thank you for any suggestions.
Howard County Maryland
Expert Response
Unfortunately deer can eat a variety of hollies that don't have very prickly foliage, which includes the 'Nellie Stevens' variety. If the denuded branches still get enough light, they should regrow and fill back in with new foliage, albeit gradually.
The only reliable way to keep deer from causing further damage is to put up a barrier like fencing, either as a cage of sorts around that particular plant or around that section of the yard (if feasible). Repellent sprays are the next-best approach, but they don't work as reliably as fencing, and you may want to rotate periodically between different repellent brands as deer can get used to (and then ignore) the ingredient mix in any one formulation. Any deer repellent product should be fine to use as long as its product label says it can be sprayed on foliage (that is how most of them are designed to be used -- applied directly to the plant). After heavy rains or (in spring) new growth emerges, repeat sprays will be needed to replenish the repellent coating.
Miri
The only reliable way to keep deer from causing further damage is to put up a barrier like fencing, either as a cage of sorts around that particular plant or around that section of the yard (if feasible). Repellent sprays are the next-best approach, but they don't work as reliably as fencing, and you may want to rotate periodically between different repellent brands as deer can get used to (and then ignore) the ingredient mix in any one formulation. Any deer repellent product should be fine to use as long as its product label says it can be sprayed on foliage (that is how most of them are designed to be used -- applied directly to the plant). After heavy rains or (in spring) new growth emerges, repeat sprays will be needed to replenish the repellent coating.
Miri
