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We’ve all experienced frustration at deer eating plants lovingly cared for. Deer will eat any plant when hungry enough, during a drought period, for example. Fawns will munch on any plant during their quest to find out what’s tasty or not. However, implementing a few gardening strategies may minimize deer browsing.

Enclose Your Garden with a Fence

The only deer proof plant is one enclosed by a fence. You can fence individual plants, the trunk of a tree, or an entire garden. Fence height around your garden should be 6.5’ or more. Polypropylene or wire mesh and wood are typical fence materials. Wireless deer fences are also available.

Use Deer Resistant Plants

If you’re not into fencing, use deer resistant plants. There is no guarantee that deer will leave them alone, but deer resistant plants are known to be effective in reducing browsing.

These plant characteristics may keep deer in search of something more delectable:

  • Silvery- or grey-green foliage, such as Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum)
  • Fuzzy or prickly foliage, such as Golden-aster (Heterotheca villosa)
  • Milky sap, such as Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa)
  • A strong sent, such Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum)
  • An undesirable taste, such as Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

View the Nursery’s List of Deer Resistant Plants (PDF)

Design a Deer Resistant Garden

What makes a garden deer resistant? Several things:

  1. A garden border of the type of deer resistant plants mentioned above that “fence” in your other plants, away from deer appetites. Remember though that no plant is deer proof. Deer are known to eat any kind of plant.
  2. A garden border of plants you’re willing to let deer browse. The strategy here is to satisfy deer with accessible munching in the hopes they’ll move on after it.
  3. Repellent sprays. Several commercial deer repellent sprays such as Liquid Fence are available at garden and hardware stores, or you can make your own repellents. These highly scented deer-repellent sprays have odors that ward off deer, but not long-term. Deer will adapt to any offensive scent. Have several scented solutions on hand to spray alternately.