I am going to watch this posting, I have two acres of oak & hemlocks that we've been cleaning out and am looking for shrubs to plant that won't be decimated by the deer. So far my list includes:

Verburnums (anything with berries)
mtn laurel (already there), rhododendrons & azaleas
dogwoods & redbuds
ferns (whatever I can get my hands on free)
holly
douglas fir
star magnolia (also foolish, but it was cheap)

I also just planted deer forage...hostas. I know foolish, but I love them and have a lot.

I also have solomon seal coming up and just planted some mountain mint.

What part of southcentral PA do you live, I live near South Mountain (the village), beautiful mountains.

Karen

Hey Karen, I live just off of Exit 10 of I-83. Close to Lake Redman. You do have the beautiful mountains! I cleaned out more of my fencerow this weekend, and it looks better already. I have yet to plant a thing. I left several small trees go, mostly cherrys, a few oaks and even fewer maples. Still trying to gather information on plants that might work for this situation. I do have a small Redbud and 2 small dogwood (3 left of 11 from Arbor Foundation) that I think I will move into the row. I also have a ton of hosta that I need to split up. I greatly enjoy the birds, so I would like to plant trees/shrubs with berries. I might make some trips to local nurseries and see if I can get some sales or good deals. I think this will end up being a couple year project!

My shade garden was an old fencerow too. It's mostly hedge trees (Osage Orange), a couple mulberries, and a couple black walnuts. You're lucky to have oak trees. Those should be good to garden under and probably the best place for your hostas rather than under the maple trees. The roots under the maples will try to choke out your hostas. I don't know if cherries are good to garden under but they should be very good trees for wildlife.
SMALL TREES - I added a couple flowering dogwoods, a couple redbuds, a couple nannyberries which I'm going to try to prune into small multi-trunked trees and a hawthorn.
SHRUBS - I planted lindera benzoin, viburnum dentatum, aronia 'Brilliantissima', Carolina Allspice, Hazelnut, and oakleaf hydrangea.
PERENNIALS - I planted hostas, heucheras, hellebores, variegated Solomon's seal, woodland phlox, Dutchman's breeches, columbine, canadian ginger (needs a lot of water for me), daffodils 'Ice Follies' (sort of white), wood hyacinth, and probably forgetting some.
I planted some shrubs along the fencerow back further where it's not part of my yard. I planted gray dogwood, wild plum, deciduous holly, more hazelnuts, and hawthorn.
Also have some gray dogwoods planted on the other side of my yard in the sun and they are producing loads of berries.
I don't have a deer problem at all on my land so I'm not familiar with what their favorites are. I'm sure it makes a difference how many deer there are and how hungry they are.
Have fun.

Thanks for you ideas Christie, I didn't think of perennials. I wasn't sure how they would do in the shade. I'll be looking to buy some plants/trees this weekend. Great suggestions! Benn