Deer Ate Japanese Maple Leaves – Will It Survive Winter Inside?

Q: Deer ate all the leaves off of my four-foot-tall Japanese maple. Will it survive if I bring it into our sunroom this winter? 

A: I think there’s a good chance your Japanese maple will sprout leaves next year without much problem. It has completed much of the photosynthesis it needed during the growing season and was preparing to drop its leaves for fall. If the branch tips were chewed off, that might be more problematic but I still predict you will have plenty of leaves. Fertilize the tree in late February with a slow release product like Holly-Tone or Milorganite. There is no need to bring it inside.