What kind of plants can I use in my yard that the deer won't eat and still look pretty?

Question

What kind of plants can I use in my yard that the deer won't eat and still look pretty?

Answer 1

There are certain highly fragrant plants that actually repel deer, including catnip, chives, onions, honeybush, lavender, mint, sage, garlic, and thyme. Deer know which plants are poisonous, or which made them sick or ones they didn't like, and they avoid them... like Foxglove, or Daffodils. They "generally avoid plants with a strong aroma that hurts their delicate sense of smell, with fuzzy or prickly leaves, or with a bitter or alkaloid taste  Some herbaceous plants to consider as resistant include astilbe, barrenwort, bee balm, bleeding heart, columbine, daffodil, dead nettle, false indigo, ferns, globe thistle, hellebore, hollyhock, lungwort, lupine, monkshood, mugwort, peony, primrose, purple coneflower, Russian sage, Siberian bugloss, speedwell,  and yarrow."

http://pss.uvm.edu/ppp/articles/deerplan...

Deer resistant plants that are beautiful & that I grow:

Agastache -- Anise Hyssop:

http://www.deerxlandscape.com/cgi-bin/we...

Achillea (Yarrow):

http://www.deerxlandscape.com/cgi-bin/we...

Butterfly Bush (Buddleia):

http://www.deerxlandscape.com/cgi-bin/we...

Bleeding Heart (Dicentra):

http://www.deerxlandscape.com/cgi-bin/we...

Coneflower (Echinacea):

http://gardening.yardener.com/ChoosingCo...

Foxglove:

http://www.deerxlandscape.com/cgi-bin/we...

Russian Sage (Perovskia):

http://www.hort.wisc.edu/mastergardener/...

http://www.deerxlandscape.com/cgi-bin/we...

Meadow Sage (Salvia)

http://www.deerxlandscape.com/cgi-bin/we...

Peony:

http://www.deerxlandscape.com/cgi-bin/we...

Lemon Balm:

http://www.deerxlandscape.com/cgi-bin/we...

Lavender:

http://www.deerxlandscape.com/cgi-bin/we...

More deer resistant plants to choose from... Click on name for more info:

http://www.deerxlandscape.com/cgi-bin/we...

Anenome, Astilbe, Beardtounge, Bee balm, Big-root Geranium, Blazing Star, Blue Star, Celandine Poppy, Columbine, Orange Coneflower, False Indigo, Ferns, Foamflower, Goldenrod, Ironweed, Jack-in-the-pulpit, Joe-pye Weed, Lamb's Ear (Stachys), Lily of the Valley, Lobelia, Obedient Plant, Partridgeberry, Phlox, Shooting Star, Skullcap, Tickseed, Trout Lily, Wild Ginger  

Deer resistant shrubs: Daphne, Butterfly Bush, Cinquefoil, Boxwood, Barberry, Spirea, Nandina, Beautybush, American holly, Mugo pine, Forsythia, Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus), Currant, Gardenia, Sweet-bay Magnolia, Summersweet, &  some viburnums.

Trees: Beech, Birch, Black Locust, Maples and Oaks

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/resOU...

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/swwd/Deer_Res...

http://www.dailypress.com/features/home/...

http://www.wwhd.org/TLD_CD/dwnloads/drpl...

Remedies: This list includes ornamental grasses.

http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living...

Ornamental grasses:

http://www.deerxlandscape.com/cgi-bin/we...

As you can see from the lists, some plants are mentioned more often than others. If deer are starving,  it's possible that they may try to nibble on some plants that they don't usually like ...if they don't find any other plants. But in most cases, these deer-tolerant/resistant plants would be less likely to be harmed by deer or chosen as a food source.

Click on photo or plant name for more info on deer tolerant plants & to hear the pronunciation:

http://www.taunton.com/finegardening/Pla...

The following is a list of landscape plants rated according to their resistance to deer damage. The list was compiled with input from nursery and landscape professionals, Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) Cooperative Extension personnel, and Master Gardeners in Northern N.J.:

http://njaes.rutgers.edu/deerresistance/...

Good luck!!!   Hope this is helpful.

Answer 2

Greetings ,

Good News !!

You have a nice variety of beautiful, deer resistant plants to choose from !

The links that I've provided,are from my Yahoo search using the keys words "Deer Resistant Plants"

Happy Gardening !

Answer 3

If you really dont want the deer to eat your plants ,hang a bar of deodorant soap such as irish spring or dial bar soap from a string and tie it onto a branch . That deters the deer from eating your plants . hope this helps .

Answer 4

While there are some plants that deer won't eat, I personally find that they aren't my favorite plants to grow.  Or they won't grow in the soil and light conditions.

The soap trick is supposed to work.  But I have a picture of a deer eating a tomato from a plant 3 feet from my living-room window, with the soap about 2 feet from where he was eating.

My wife uses something called 'liquid fence'.  She just wrote a blog post about it at http://www.greenthumbmomma.com.  It lasts for weeks.  Stinks for a day or so, but after that, it's fine for humans, but keeps deer and rabbits and even squirrels away.