Ornamental plants are usually hardest hit after heavy snowfalls limit the animals' mobility and the availability of native plants. Messmer says once snow depths exceed eight inches, most deer are unable to dig down through the snow to reach food. Many plants that are heavily browsed can recover during the spring and fall, particularly if they are watered regularly, fertilized and weeded. Native plants are particularly well-adapted to resist heavy browsing, but it can take two or more seasons for many plants to fully recover. This is particularly true for apple trees and conifers.
Many native shrubs qualify on both accounts.
Native shrubs and trees provide mule deer winter forage and many are very attractive landscape plantings. Remember, in many cases your backyard might just be wildlife's front yard. Norway maple, silver maple, birch, hawthorn, white ash, Engelmann spruce, blue spruce, narrowleaf cottonwood and Douglas fir. Native plants that generally recover from deer browsing Serviceberry, black sagebrush, big sagebrush, fourwing saltbrush, barberry, Douglas rabbitbrush, common blackbrush, Mexican cliffrose, hawthorn, common winterfat, Apache plume, chokecherry, bitterbrush, gambel oak, smooth sumac, golden currant, woods rose, red raspberry, blueberry elder and mountain snowberry. Located in northern Utah's Cache Valley, USU's eight academic colleges, School of Graduate Studies and statewide outreach Extension offices provide comprehensive programs to Utah and the world.