I have tried all manner of deterrents with varying degrees of success. Balls of hair, bars of soap hanging in trees, flashing tape, wind mills, motion detectors that spray water and shiny CDs twisting in the wind are some of the devices used. They give the garden a rather eclectic appearance and only work for a short time. Sudden noises are effective only until the deer become accustomed to them and are usually harder on the family and the neighbours than on the deer.

 

Deer don’t like fuzzy leaves, spicy food or strong flavours. Various sprays can be used – a garlic spray is common but it smells awful. Animal urines and blood based sprays can be purchased at garden centres and need frequent applications. Two homemade sprays that work temporarily are:

Hot Pepper Spray: 2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce, 1 tablespoon liquid dish soap, 1 teaspoon garlic powder mixed into 4 litres water.

 

Egg Spray: 3 eggs beaten with 2 tablespoon of cayenne pepper in 4 litres of water. (being herbivores deer usually turn their noses up at eggs)

Spray these weekly or after it rains.

 

A large, noisy dog is also a good deterrent but somehow the deer always seem to know when the dog is in the house and then they sneak into the rose bed during the wee hours of the morning while Fido is fast asleep.

 

While the most effective deer deterrent is an eight foot fence, fencing is not always possible due to cost, appearance or the layout of the property. Some people enjoy the deer and don’t wish to exclude them from their yard.

 

The smaller Mule deer will usually not jump a fence higher than six feet. They are amazingly good, however, at crawling under a fence even if given only a tiny gap. In areas where the White Tail or larger deer roam a higher fence to eight feet is necessary. Lower fences will work if two fences are placed 5 feet apart. The deer don’t want to jump the first fence if there is no clear place for them to land. The inner fence could be a hedge because it too takes away the deer’s landing spot. Even raised beds can deter them if they cannot see a clear landing spot. A lower fence set on an outward angle is also effective if it makes the jumping distance too great. Electric fences may work in rural areas but are not practical for most of us.

 

Deer hate to walk on netting or chicken wire where they can tangle their feet. A wide strip of netting secured to the ground can deter deer from entering garden beds. Bucks rubbing their antlers on the trunks of small trees or shrubs in the fall and early winter can do a great deal of damage. The bark may be girdled or slender stems or branches broken. Fencing individual plants may be necessary until they are too tall or thick to be damaged. Black plastic netting sold as deer fencing does a good job, the bucks don’t want their antlers caught in the netting and it is less conspicuous than other types of fencing.

What works best is a combination of methods. Fence part of the yard is to protect the ornamentals you can’t do without. Leave the remainder of the yard open so both people and deer can move around freely. The plants in this area must be the kind that the deer will usually leave alone. I prefer to work with deer resistant plants rather than spending time trying to outwit the deer with scare tactics.

 

Designing deer resistant gardens is much like designing drought resistant garden. Many of the plants used are the same. Nothing, as I mentioned above, is deer-proof, but there are plants that are seldom damaged by deer. The list of these resistant plants will vary from one location to another and from one season to the next. You will have to experiment. Try the plants on the lists and remember that deer don’t like strong tasting, fuzzy or silver leaves. I have discovered that they usually pass by the daisy type flowers, particularly yellow coloured ones such as yellow marguerites, anthemis, euryops and doronicum (leopard’s bane). Some plants are not eaten – just the flowers! Peony foliage is eaten in late summer but not touched in June when in flower; so grow peonies and enjoy the blooms and remove the chewed stems once the leaves are eaten. The peonies seem to come back just as strong each year, not any worse off for their shortened season. Snapdragons, calendulas and marigolds last longer than most flowers – some years. Lilies with very strong odours, the fritillaries – the checkered lily, chocolate lily or crown imperial lily are avoided. (Don’t plant them near your door or patio.) The native camas and erythronium are plentiful in the meadows despite the presence of the deer. Most likely a few do get eaten.

 

Like drought tolerant gardens, deer resistant gardens will not be lush. But many styles of gardens do lend themselves to attractive unpalatable plantings.

 

Herb Gardens are popular because most herbs contain strong tasting oils and have dry, silver or fuzzy leaves – oregano, lavender, sage, rosemary, tarragon, artemsias, chives, alliums…. Herbs can be allowed to roam into a wild garden or clipped and controlled to form intricate designs. Place this garden convenient to the kitchen. In late summer it will become a source of materials for crafts (wreaths, swags, potpourris and sachets) and kitchen condiments (herbal vinegars, jellies and herb blends for year round cooking).

 

Decorative Knot Gardens can be lined with boxwood or herbs that can be sheared to form patterns. The contrasts in the leaf colours and textures define the patterns. Evergreens in all or part of the pattern provide year round interest. Seasonal colour can be added with flower plantings worked into the design.

 

Native Plant Gardens.  Many of our beautiful natives are left untouched or only occasionally nibbled. Since they grow plentifully in their home locations there are usually enough to share a few with the deer.

 

Grass Gardens are becoming more and more popular every year and are among the best selling perennials. Great for drought and low maintenance, most ornamental grasses are left untouched by deer. They include Panicum, Miscanthus, Calamagrostis, Festuca, and Pennisetum. Bamboos, also a grass, are usually safe. You’ll find hundreds at the garden centres in all colours and sizes so they are easily worked into just about any design.

 

Fern Gardens  The western sword fern, lady fern, autumn fern, Japanese painted fern, cinnamon fern, royal fern, maidenhair fern, Christmas ferns and others all make splendid gardens plant; often for those hard to plant, excessively shady or wet locations. In Victorian times fern grottos were all the rage. We have many native, hardy ferns and they deserved to be used more frequently.

 

If you are faced with the problem of deer, a problem that is increasingly more common all across the continent as the suburbs sprawl out into the countryside and the deer populations learn to adapt to living with humans, you can still have an attractive garden. It may not be the one you had envisioned, filled with roses or lush tropical plants. But, with a little research and testing you can find many plants – flowers and foliage that can be worked into an attractive, low maintenance garden; a garden that is unique and creative.

 

Landscaping with Deer Resistant Plants

This list has been complied from many different sources, with my own experience in the Gulf Island and experiences of friends in other areas of the islands. These are plants we have had some success with – but there are no guarantees. Bolded plants have been consistently resistant for all of us. There will, not doubt, be some plants on this list that the deer will eat in your location.

 

Trees and Shrubs

Although deer may not eat the tree you may need to protect the young trunk/stem from deer rubbing their antlers, breaking the stems or removing the bark, in fall.

(spp. = species)

Abelia

Abies (true firs)

Acer (maples) big leaf, vine and Japanese - except the expensive hybrid forms

Acer negundo (Box elder)

Araucaria araucana (Monkey puzzle tree)
Bamboos spp – most

Berberis

Betula (Birches)

Boxwood

Buddleia (butterfly bush) – usually

Catalpa bignonioides (Common Catalpa)
Choisya ternata (Mexican mock orange)

Cistus

Cornus kousa (Kousa dogwood)

Coptinus coggygria (Smoke Tree) 
Crataegus (English hawthorn)

Cryptomeria (plume cedar)

Cupressus, Chameyparis (cypress)

Cytisus (broom)

Daphne

Epimedium (barrenwort)

Eucalyptus

Fremontodendron

Genista monosperma (broom)

Hypericum – shrub form

Ilex (American Holly) - they eat the variegated forms

Juniperus spp. (Junipers)
Kerria japonica

Laburnum

Liquidambar spp. (Sweet Gums)

Mahonia (Oregon grape)

Magnolia

Manzanita

Nandina domestica (Heavenly bamboo) – eat the hybrid forms

Picea (spruce)

Pieris japonica (lily of the valley bush)

Pinus (pine)

Robina pseudoacacia

Rhododendrons – stems need protection in fall

Sequoia sempervirens (Redwood)

Spartium junceum (Spanish broom)

Symphoricarpos albus (Snowberry) 

Taxus (yew)

Thuja (cedar) sometimes eaten in winter

Trachyocarpus  (windmill palm)

Walnut

Wisteria

Weigela

Perennials:

Achillea (Yarrow family)

Aconitum (Monkshood) - very poisonous but I have had them eat it

Ageratum spp (Flossflower)
Agapanthus (Lily of the Nile)

Ajuga reptans (Carpet bugle) 
Alliums (flowering onions)

Althaea rosea (Hollyhocks)  
Anemone

Anthemia tinctoria (perennial marguerite)

Antirrhinum majus (snapdragon) – eat at end of season when water is in short supply

Aquilegia (columbines) - sometimes

Arctotis stoechadifolia (African daisy)
Artemsia spp. (wormwoods, tarragon)

Armeria maritima (sea pink)  

Asters – some fall species
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Bellis (English daisies)

Bergenia

Blackberries

Borage

Cactacese spp.(Cactus)  
Calendula officinalis (Pot marigold)  
Callistemon spp.(Bottle Brushes)
Calycanthus occidentalis (Sweet Shrubs)
Ceanothus sanguineus (Wild lilac) – eat the hybrid cultivars

Centaurea (mountain bluet or perennial cornflower)

Cerastium (snow in summer)
Chives

Chrysanthemum maximum (shasta daisy) 
Cordyline australis

Cortaderia spp. (Pampas Grasses) 
Daffodils

Daphne spp. (daphnes)
Dicentra spectabilis (bleeding heart)
Digitalis spp (foxglove)
Doronicum (leopard’s bane daisy)

Dryopteris spp. (Wood ferns)

Epimedium (barrenwort)

Eschscholzia (California poppy)
Festuca spp. (Fescues/grasses) 

Fritillaria spp.
Galanthus (snowdrops)

Galium (sweet woodruff)

Gaultheria (salal and wintergreen)

Geranium sanguinium and macrorhizzum
Grasses (including Panicum, Miscanthus, Calamagrostis, Festuca, Pennisetum)

Helianthus spp. (Sunflower)
Helleborus spp. (Hellebore)  

Herbs – all strong smelling and gray/silver leaves
Humulus (hops)

Hypericum calycinum (Aaron’s beard or creeping St. John’s-wort)
Impatiens – only if lots of  food and water is available

Iris spp. (Iris)
Jasminum officinale (Jasmine)  
Juglans Regia (English or Persian walnut)
Juncus parryi (Wire grass)
Kniphofia uvaria (Devils or Red Hot Poker)
Lamium (dead nettles)

Lantana montevidensis (Trailing lantana)
Laurentia fluviatalis (Blue star creeper) 
Lavandula spp. (Lavender)  
Lupinus spp. (Lupine) 
Lysimachia nummularia (Moneywort)
Mimulus spp. (Mimulus, Monkey flower)  
Mints

Myosotis spp. (Forget me not)
Narcissus spp. (Daffodil)
Nepeta (catmint)

Oenethera (evening primrose)
Oregano

Osteospermum (African daisy) - sometimes
Oxalis oregana (Oxalis, Redwood Sorrel)  
Pachysandra procumbens

Papaver nudicaule (Welsh, Icelandic, Shirley poppies)
Papaver orientale (Oriental poppy)

Papaver somniforum (Opium or peony poppy)
Parsley 

Pelargoniums (scented geraniums)

Peony – eat foliage in late summer

Perovskai atricplifolia (Russian sage)

Phormium (New Zealand

flax)
Polystictum spp  (Sword ferns)

Potentilla fruticosa (Shrubby cinquefoil)

Primula
Rheum spp (Rhubarb, Pie plant)

Romneya coulteri

Rosemary

Ruta graveolens (rue) – can irritate sensitive skin

Rudbeckia (glorisoa daisy)
Sambucus racemosa (Red Elderberry)
Santolina spp (Santolinas)
Senecio cineraria (Dusty miller)
Solanum spp. (Nightshade)
Stachys byzantina (Lamb’s-ear)
Tagetes (marigolds)

Teucrium fructicans (germander)

Trillium spp.

Thyme

Umbellularia Californica (California bay or Oregon

myrtle)
Valeriana spp. (Valerian)  
Vinca major, V. Minor (Vinca, myrtle or periwinkle) – eat variegated
Woodwardia spp.(Chain ferns)
Yucca spp. (Yucca, Spanish bayonet)
Zantedeschia spp. (Calla Lilly)