Deer Attraction

• Hungry deer will eat almost any plant, but the animals are attracted to those that are well-fertilized with tender young growth. They are less likely to eat plants that are strongly fragrant, or have gray leaves, poisonous plant parts or prominent thorns. Chamaecyparis pisifera is fragrant.
  
  

Geographical Differences

• Deer resistance can depend on geography. Cooperative extension experts at the University of West Virginia classify Chamaecyparis pisifera in the "Rarely Damaged" category of deer-resistant plants, while Texas A&M University's Bexar County Cooperative Extension service does not even list the species on its deer-resistant plant list.
  
  

Protecting Gold Thread Cypress

• The best way to protect these plants from hungry deer is to fence in the area where they grow, with fencing that is at least 8 feet high, or to erect cages around each plant.