I would just turn a blind eye for a few years and see how it does. They're a mess of a plant as it is and have shoots going out every which way so it's not like there's one specific shape you're going to be able to aim for or restore to. Just enjoy that it survived and like gg says make sure it's well protected.

I'm really guessing here, but if they ate a Norway spruce I don't think switching species will do you much good. Those must be some hungry deer!

You might want to consider staking a shoot higher in order to help the whole plant gain some height as it grows. I'm sure you know it's a weeper which won't gain height otherwise, but the added height might bring it out from among all the other perennials and also (maybe) bring it up out of deer buffet height? Now that's wishful thinking I'm sure. Good luck, and for the record I have plenty of far uglier plants growing here, in fact other than the sparse look I don't think it looks bad at all.

When I had this happen to a Korean fir I thought it was deer - until I realized it was rabbits. Did you actually see them biting these entire sections of hard, prickly spruce growth off? The deer in my area usually seem to focus on soft tips of deciduous trees and shrubs, although arborvitaes do get browsed heavily.

With the fir, once I thought about it the damage had clearly been done by rodents with their clipping teeth. Your picture looks similar.

Here there were a few cut branches left lying in place - as though the rest had been hauled away, perhaps to be used for bedding, rather than eaten. Browsing deer swallow the foliage as they go, in a nibbling fashion.

properly prune off the dead stubs .. to the branch collar ...

you might want to get a more stout stake... placement is proper.. cant tell what its tied with.. but i prefer all cotton clothes line ... and i would make a point of retying twice a year ... and that is why the big thick rope works ...

some nice growth this season .. but it is.. what it is ....

they work in tree time.. give it 5 years.. and report back.. lol ..

or.. if its irritating you.. just get rid of it...

ken

btw .. its a conifer.. which is a tree .. and i suppose all are perennials ... lol ..

no need to post anywhere else.. just info ... ken

Montana is home to extraordinary animals, including large hares, but I don't think even they could reach so far up this tree! I'm sure it's deer. We have tons of them and they eat/wreck a lot. I'm learning and adapting.

I'll clip off the stubs, reassess, and maybe stake it differently. I had intended to keep it going upward until it was too high for me to reach, and then let it trail back down. But I haven't attended to the staking since it got eaten. Ken, it's tied with foam-covered twist ties.

I might query the conifers forum to see if anyone has experience with deer and spruce. They do not touch our Colorado spruces, but they wiped out a Black Hills spruce. It would awesome to know their preferences before I spend money on these pricey (but lovely) plants.

Thank you for your wisdom!

My sympathies, Karin! In addition to proper trimming as Ken suggested, I might give it a sort-of fence of 3 stakes and a light weight black netting that will disappear visually but discourage the deer. Or one thing that worked well for some hollies that were getting a lot of winter deer damage was a web of clear high test fishing line several feet away attached to stakes. I used the heaviest line I could find (70 lb I think) and had three layers high zigzagged around the hedge. It was something they couldn't see well and the zigzags a couple of layers deep made it difficult to judge landings, so they avoided it. Perhaps you can surround a couple of beds?

Minor update - I cleaned up the dead limbs, and in doing so realized it is making a modest amount of new growth so maybe all is not lost. So I resisted buying an on-sale weeping white spruce, which had been tempting me.

Those are good suggestions Babs, I'll have to come up with a fencing plan for the winter. Although I learned my lesson with fishing line because the most common thing to get tripped up in it was me! Damn that stuff is invisible. After nearly busting my ass on it a few times, I wisened up and switched to a heavier weight bird netting.

I appreciate the suggestions and the encouragement!

I planted a Norway Spruce last fall and forgot to put any type of fencing around it. I knew better but forgot. My next door neighbor had there tree ruined by Deer Rubbing...they lost the tree. Well he did the same to my $220 Norway Spruce. Rubbed the entire top off about 12 " down. Looks like a bush now. Put a fence around it during fall season. Take off in the summer.