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Living in the Hill Country of Central Texas provides an amazing diversity of wildlife and plant life. People moving to this area for the first time are initially excited to see the white-tailed deer nibbling freely in their front yards with young spotted fawns frolicking nearby. However, after residents have attempted to grow a multitude of flowering plants to brighten their landscape and discover that most flowers and young Spring leaves have been gobbled up, clipped off at the base or even completely pulled out from the roots, gardeners can become thoroughly discouraged by these same deer.
A white-tailed deer’s diet primarily comes from forbs and woody plants since they are browsers not grazers. Forbs are herbaceous, broad-leaf plants commonly thought of as weeds or wildflowers. Only 5-10% of a deer’s diet consists of new, soft leaves of grasses, unlike cattle and horses who are almost exclusively grazers. Grasses contain protein, minerals and carbohydrates including lignin, a complex polymer that strengthens cell walls but is extremely difficult to digest unless you have 4 stomachs (cattle) to break it down. A 100 pound deer consumes about 3.5 pounds of forage per day; multiply that by the number of deer browsing in your yard munching on all your short woody plants and flowers. A scrumptious feast is ready and waiting with all the baby and teenage trees and shrubs.
So if you would like to minimize the deer feast in your yard, carefully select less palatable native plants. A very resilient evergreen shrub that voluntarily grows throughout Texas on dry rocky slopes, hills and open woodlands is Berberis trifoliolata, better known as Agarita, Agrito Algerita or Chaparral Berry. The name Agarita is derived from the Spanish verb agarrar which means “to grab.” It is well known for its spiky leaves.
Each blue-green leaf is actually composed of 3 long, stiff leaflets (thus the name trifoliolata) that are smooth in the center except for the 3-7 razor sharp points that can grab you as you pass by. One of the early Spring blooming natives, its small, strongly fragrant yellow flowers attract a multitude of native bees and other pollinators. This shrub can grow up to 6’ tall with an equal spread also of 6 feet. Agarita produces bright red edible berries from May through July. Birds and other wildlife enjoy the tart yet sweet fruit to supplement their seed diet along with dispersing the seeds for future plants.
A closely related cousin, Berberis swaseyi can appear visually similar but is an uncommon shrub endemic to the Hill Country. This variation has a compound leaf structure with 5 to 9 leaflets and 3 to 6 sharply pointed teeth on each side. The leaves change colors depending on the season from rosy in the Spring to gray-green in Summer and muted shades of reds and purples throughout the winter, unlike the trifoliolata species which is consistently bluegreen. Short racemes of yellow flowers burst forth usually after its cousin has led the way. Bright red berries a bit smaller than its kin are highly prized in my house for their distinctive flavor.
Many newcomers to the Hill Country question this genera’s purpose and prefer to remove it altogether from their landscape. However, there are actually quite a few positive aspects to be considered. 1) Since either species of Berberis is very sharp and painful to the touch and the mouth, larger mammals generally don’t browse on it; Berberis is considered to be a low-quality deer browse and is least preferred. 2) Similar to Ash Junipers (Mountain Cedar), Agarita can be called a “Nursery” plant providing safety, shade and cover for vulnerable seedlings and small young wildlife such as birds and bunnies. 3) It is a wonderful source for early pollinators. 4) If your ground is very compact/dense and you find it difficult to grow anything in the 2” of topsoil, this evergreen is able to grow right out of limestone and caliche. 5) Agaritas are also well adapted to extreme temperatures from 25 to 110 degrees are well within its normal range. 6) Once established, this shrub can subsist on a very limited supply of water or a heavy downpour. 7) Direct sun or part shade is perfectly fine for its growth. 8) Because of those prickly leaves it can be effectively used as a security hedge. 9) Oh and did I mention, it is a true evergreen. 10) But the transcendent quality of the Agarita is harvesting the delectable berries in the summer to make a unique jam. Harvesting is the tricky part. Simply work s..l..o..w…l..y to gather only 1/3rd of the berries from 1 plant after they are fully ripe in late July or August. By leaving 1/3rd for the wildlife and the remaining 1/3 for growth of future specimens you will be acting as a responsible naturalist.
