Gardening Sweet Spots
By Donna Hessel
I purchased my house located on a corner lot that included a large, sunny area with plans for a big perennial garden that would provide seasons of color to be enjoyed both outdoors and looking out from my windows. Well! That lasted just one season. My neighbor informed me that I had planted “deer candy” — daylilies, hostas, tulips and other gourmet treats for the herd of deer that tromped through my yard every night.
Over the years, I have replanted that garden with plants that deer don’t particularly like, to create a garden with many colorful perennials, herbs, grasses and other native plants that the deer will ignore unless they are starving. And I’ve learned to spray anything with deer repellent that is a possible attraction – whether it is listed as deer-resistant or not.
In general, foraging deer will definitely destroy hostas, daylilies and roses. They are also fond of tulips and crocus, will eat as high as they can reach on Arborvitae, Yews and Hydrangeas and on fruit or berry-producing plants. If you plant a vegetable garden, plan to fence it!
Deer are less attracted to plants with fuzzy or heavily-scented foliage, such as herbs. Ferns, grasses and Western Red Cedar trees are also not favorites. There are several excellent reference lists of perennials, annuals, shrubs and trees from local nurseries included at the end of this blog. Selecting plants from those lists will give you a chance to see your garden grow to maturity without being nibbled. Keep in mind, however, that during our cold winters with prolonged snow cover, starving deer will eat almost anything.
Here are some other tips to deter deer from your gardens:
- Remove the browsing line. Deer follow a routine browsing route, nibbling on lower branches of trees and shrubs. If there are woods on or around your property, consider eliminating the lower 4-6 feet of leaves and branches on trees and shrubs leading into your property. Interrupting their route will encourage them to move on and search for food elsewhere.
- Fencing is the most effective means of keeping deer out of your gardens, but it is expensive and costly to install. Less expensive than the 8-12 foot commercial fences recommended is plastic mesh or deer netting that can be hung on posts around an area or draped over individual plants and shrubs. Keep enclosures four-feet square or less or deer will jump in and out. When I fenced an area of hostas, I strung twine from corner posts in an X and hung strips of white cotton tied to the strings. The deer stayed out. The black netting is virtually invisible from a distance, available by the roll to be cut to the lengths needed. Pin down the bottom with u-shaped wires that can be made from wire coat hangers. You definitely don’t want it to get loose to blow around and get wrapped around the blades of a lawn mower!
- Block the view. Use shrubs, trees or walls to hide your garden. Deer won’t go over a barrier if they can’t see the other side. A hedge of deer-resistant shrubs may be an option. Options for shrubs include boxwood, flowering quince and Oregon grape holly. I’ve started a hedge of red barberry — volunteers from a shrub in another area of my yard. Maybe in 10 years they will be large enough to keep the deer from even thinking about entering my yard.
- Distract them with deterrents. Deer fear new, unfamiliar objects such as lawn ornaments that spin or move with the wind. Scarecrows, sundials, wind chimes and whirligigs will both make deer skittish and enhance your garden. Move them around to keep the deer on-guard. Shiny mylar strps attached to tree branches or shrubs around the yard that flutter in the breeze make deer cautious. A dog roaming your property is always a good deterrent.
- Grow aromatic plants or those with fuzzy leaves. Use strong-smelling plants or herbs to surround others that deer like. This has worked in my garden. I also border my garden with lamb’s ears. The low-growing, fuzzy, silver leaves spread into a nice border and are not invasive. The type I have flowers and attracts lots of pollinators. A newer cultivar will produce only leaves, eliminating the chore of cutting the unattractive flower stalks after they are finished blooming.
- Protect small plants or trees. A mesh wire cage 4 feet high will protect newly planted trees. Placing small or young plants in the middle of beds of larger ones will make it more difficult for deer to get to them if browsing through.
- Use Repellents. Make them yourself with garlic, raw eggs, citrus extracts, hot peppers or other ingredients suggested in online references. These will have to be applied after every rain. I have found Plantskyyd especially effective. It does not have to be reapplied after rain and lasts 3 months or so. There are several brands of repellents available at garden centers and you may have to try more than one to find one that is effective. Most need to be reapplied monthly. Strong-smelling bar soaps such as Irish Spring, in mesh bags hung from branches, are also effective repellents. Deer detect scents from far away, so spraying or hanging repellents in a downwind direction will be helpful.
- Keep the garden neat. Deer love sugary fruit, especially apples, peaches and cherries, so keep areas under fruit trees cleaned up. Acorns are also a big part of their diet, so remove fallen acorns from under your oak trees.
Here are online references to lists of perennials, annuals, shrubs and trees that are deer resistant. Remember that deer in different locations prefer different plants, so you will have to experiment somewhat to find those that your deer dislike. Spray just before winter any evergreen plants (such as yuccas) that deer might nibble when they can’t find food during snow-covered months. Both Petitti’s and Dayton Nurseries are local and will stock the plants listed. The Rutgers A to Z plant listing is considered the most comprehensive list available, but does not necessarily apply to local deer:
https://www.petittigardencenter.com/planting-for-deer-resistance/
http://www.daytonnursery.com/knowledge-base/garden-tips/deer-res/
https://njaes.rutgers.edu/deer-resistant-plants/
(Article reference: Information excerpted from Garden Gate magazine, December 2020 article “Eight Gardening Hacks for Outwitting Deer” by James A. Baggett.
Photo courtesy pexels.com
