Skip to main content

Deer-resistant plants

 Deer-resistant plants to protect your garden



When they are hungry and the competition for food is high, deer will treat your yard like a buffet where you can eat. They will eat almost anything - even plants they did not care for in previous years. The most foolish barrier for deer is the fence, but fences must be 9 feet high to prevent deer from jumping. Odor and taste repellents can reduce deer damage, but they do not eliminate it. They need to be reused regularly after rain and snow, which is a big drag. Also, some deer will ignore the stench or bitter taste anyway and will continue to bite. Your best bet: Choose less exotic plants with deer-like, more fragrant, fuzzy, or thorny leaves. Remember, there is no guarantee of what the deer near you will eat (or not!), But these hardy shrubs, beautiful perennials, and easy annuals are less tasty than the others.


Abelia


This beautiful curved shrub blooms in the summer and has fragrant flowers that deer do not like (but butterflies and hummingbirds do!).


Types to try: Ruby Anniversary, Sunny Anniversary


Barberry


Hard and colorful, these shrubs have thorny stems that prevent them from being crushed. New varieties are not aggressive.



Types to try: Sanjay Mini Maroon, Cherry Bomb Monomb


Caryopteris (Bluebeard)


This bright blue flowering shrub brings late-season color to the garden. Pollen pollinators like it, but deer do not.


Types to try: Petite Blue, Beyond Midnight


Diervilla


This attractive native shrub with bright foliage is a colorful, hardy, and beautiful addition to any deer-resistant landscape. It will appear with amazing autumn color.



Types to try: Kodiak Black, Kodiak Red


Forsythia


The cheerful yellow flowers of this sturdy shrub welcome the beginning of spring. This is not particularly appealing to deer.


Types to try: Show Off, Spring Glory


Winterberry Holly


This beautiful shrub brightens up the winter landscape with bright red berries that attract birds but not deer. Info: To produce berries, you need a male and female plant.



Types to try: Perry Heavy (Mr. Bobbins pollinator), Perry Bobbins (with Mr. Bobbins as pollinator)


Potentilla


This long flowering shrub is a low-maintenance plant that is usually overlooked by deer. In addition, it is incredibly cold-hardy.


Types to try: happy face yellow, happy face pink paradise


Buddleia (Summer Lilac)


Butterfly bushes bloom throughout the summer, attracting pollen but not attracting deer. They range in height from two feet to six feet, so there is one for each garden. New varieties are not aggressive.



Types to try: Low & Ito Blue Chip Jr., Prince Charming


Baptisia (False Indigo)


Deer are not these native perennial fans, which send spikes of flowers in late spring. The colors of the flowers range from deep purple to pale pink and dark charcoal, and once established it is drought tolerant.


Types to try: Decadence Blueberry Sundae, Twilight Prairieblue


Heuchera (Coral Bells)


These perennials are grown in glossy foliage, coming in a range of colors ranging from lime green to deep chocolate. Deer do not particularly like this plant.


Types to try: Dolce Wildberry, Dolce Cherry Truffles

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Great Designs for Container Groupings

Once your single containers are ready to merge It's hard to fail with a group of containers. Any size group, from a simple couple to large multiples, can enhance any outdoor space. Open patios and decks become softer and more intimate when you place pots around them. A straight and simple outdoor path lined with containers can become a wave of sorts—a formal one with some plants or an informal path with others. You never know what you'll come up with by placing one pot next to another or a particular plant with others. Once you start experimenting, you'll notice many places where a container is grouped. 1. Combine bright colors This collection of colorful pots introduces the viewer to the vivid color scheme in the beds behind it, mainly blue flowers. However, to maintain exclusivity, pots get exclusive rights to colors like magenta, pink and chartreuse. 2. Formal lateralization A combination of papyrus and vases always looks elegant, but when placed side by sid...

Strategies for improving a small garden space

Prioritize functionality when every inch is precious When I started designing gardens 20 years ago, I was surprised to find that small spaces were more challenging to plan than large ones. In those early years, a small number of clients would come to me with detailed lists of items they must have, and I would struggle to fit everything in. Identifying specific features and details was a major breakthrough. A garden should be the final step in the process, not the first. Since then, every consultation I have with a new client begins with three questions I've nicknamed the "three W's." These prompts help my clients imagine interacting with their redesigned spaces, and while they're useful in remodeling gardens of all sizes, they're especially helpful when space is at a premium. When my husband and I recently moved into a new house with a small backyard, we had the opportunity to use the process for ourselves. Here's what we found. Three question...

Top 10 Early Spring Flowering Shrubs

Early Spring Flowering Shrubs Spring-blooming shrubs and bushes add color to backyards early in the season, attract pollinators and more. 1. Carnelian cherry dogwood Cornus mas, zones 4 to 8 Size: Up to 20 feet tall and wide Welcome spring with bright yellow flowers that appear earlier than those of forsythia. These spring-blooming shrubs prefer full sun or partial shade and prefer rich, moist, well-drained soil. Leaves turn purplish red in fall, and scaly bark adds winter interest. Why we love it: Red fruits are edible, but they're also made into preserves, jellies and slices. Or leave them for the birds to enjoy. 2. Dwarf Russian Almond Prunus tenella, zones 2 to 6 Size: 2 to 5 feet tall and wide This moderate-sized shrub records the growing season with showy rose-red flowers and yellow-orange fall color. It prefers full sun, tolerates a variety of soil types and is very drought tolerant. Ruth's 100 produces lots of flowers on a small plant. Why we love it: Flo...