Plantings That Deer Really Don't Like

Last winter was pretty hard on the deer herd in town. With the cold and snow and spring’s reluctant appearance the critters were just starving when the new sprouts and buds of the season broke forth. It’s no surprise that I’ve heard from lots of folks wondering what they can do about deer eating their plantings. First of all, let me tell you that I feel your pain. There’s nothing like feeding wild animals with your expensive and lovingly cared for specimen plants.

There are lots of experts who will tell you predator urine, dial soap, blood meal, and other potions will work. Sorry, but not true. If a deer is hungry enough, there is not much that can stop them. Think from the deer’s point of view; as long as you keep alert and post a lookout from your herd to watch out for predators, what’s the big deal. And the soap thing not only looks ridiculous, but have you ever noticed that when you open a new bar of soap the smell is overpowering and after a couple of showers it’s barely even there? Try that with the torrential rains we’ve been having this week.
There are also noisemakers and moving objects and other nonsense. The only animals they scare are your neighbors and you might get a surprise visit from the local police responding to helpful neighbors worried that something’s wrong at your house. Of course, you can always put up a tall fence, and they’ve been know to be very effective, but I’m not really a fence person.

So what works? The only success (and it’s very limited) I've had has been with coating the plants with a substance that makes it smell bad and taste bad and as a bonus painful for them to eat it. There are probably a few of you thinking that arsenic would be just the ticket, but my substance is much more benign - it’s pepper, the hottest pepper you can find. My mixture calls for water and equal parts of cayenne, habanera & white pepper (about a tablespoon of each in a pint of water). Spray this on the plants and your protection will last until the first rain, then you have to spray it on again (there are available commercial pepper waxes that claim to be less water soluble and will last longer but I haven’t tried them). In addition to starting a vicious cycle of spraying and raining and spraying, you may find that your particular deer herd develops a fondness for their greens with a Mexican spice, and make the problem even worse.

So what do deer like to eat, i.e. what should I not plant? A partial list of common plants is as follows: azaleas, arborvitae, white pines, dogwoods, mountain ash, any kind of fruit bearing trees, maples, vinca, strawberries, raspberries, sweet corn, tulips, and any kind of yew (an all time favorite). You’ve probably got some if not all of these in your garden, and if so there’s not anything you can do about that, but if you’re planning new gardens and have deer problems avoid these at any cost.
So what should I plant? There are some shrubs and plants that are “deer-resistant” either because they don’t taste good or have a texture that the deer avoid. There are some exotic ones, but the common ones you might select for your garden or already have are as follows: boxwood, American holly, spiraea, andromeda, and blue spruces (actually most spruces).

If you have a shady garden, there are some perennials that the deer avoid unless there’s nothing better to eat. They are: astilbes, bleeding hearts and lily-of-the-valley. The fresh sprouts of your hosta lilies are one of their favorite treats, so it's best to keep hostas away from your favorite specimen plants.
If you have a sunny garden, deer tend to avoid anything with a strong scent, such as: wormwood, geraniums, woodruff, lavender, mints, oregano, rosemary and sage. For obvious reasons they don’t like nettles, thistles, and wooly lamb’s ears. Flowering perennials they don’t like are: butterfly bushes, digitalis, coneflowers, baby’s breath, Shasta daisies, or almost any kind of irises.

The good news is that as summer progresses food supplies are much more plentiful. The deer have a veritable smorgasbord of their favorite wild plants on which to dine and will probably leave your plants alone.