Hi Everyone,
I have recently had several varieties of flowers eaten up by our neighborhood deer population. I am aware that in our region this is not a typical year, in that we are in a fairly severe draught, and this has the deer eating anything they can find green, or not. I would like to hear from others who have deer populations and what do you plant that the deer will leave alone, (if anything).
Any Ideas on Perrenials Deer won't eat?
Hi, I have several Internet links that when I go shopping I download and take with me to the nursery. There are a million of them on the Net but my suggestion is that you Google - Deer Resistant Plants, Shrubs and Trees of Texas or something to that effect. Lots of good folks here on DG from Texas and I am sure you will hear from them. In my area of NC (the Piedmont) I have no trouble with baptisia, cotoneaster, amsonia, agastache,coreopsis, lavender, vinca, pieris, lilac, sea nettle, Buddleia, abelia, bleeding heart, tiarella, daphne, edgeworthia, fern, yarrow, Wiegelia, ajuga, monarda, purple coneflower, sweet betsy, fringe tree, sage, mints, juniper, wormwood, geum, geranium, creeping jenny, barberry, boltonia, blue star creeper, all kinds of thyme,shasta daisy - furry, prickly, and smelly flowers and shrubs..and a lot more. Hope this helps, Dorothy
Hi,
I remember when we were putting in our original landscaping 3 years ago and I asked our landscaper what were the deer resistant plants we could plant in the non-fenced front yard. He said "I'll get the list",.....went to his truck and returned with a blank sheet of paper. Basically, he said, if the deer are hungry enough, they will eat almost anything.
Three years in the Hill Country has almost proven him correct. The exceptions to his rule (so far) seem to be.....Sages; which includes all kinds of Salvia, (Jeruselum Sage grows lovely yellow flowers and doubles in size in one year), Rosemary....they don't touch that, Copper Canyon Daisy....just smells too bad for them....Grasses, Oleander, Gold Lantana (although they eat the purple, and red), Cycads....like Sagos and such, and Horsetail Reeds (although they are very invasive).
I'm sure there are more....I just haven't planted them....yet.
In this picture, you can see how they left the Copper Canyon Daisy, grasses, and Oleander, but almost stripped the Primrose Jasmine of leaves.
Here's one link to a deer resistant plants link. I can tell you they will go after yucca plants in a bad year like this. They pull the leaves right off the plant (doesn't usually kill the plant, however), then I find the leaves discarded. In good years, they only go after the yucca blooms every spring. This year, no yucca blooms happened here, even in the yard where they get watered. I suspect the deer eat the tops off any blooming Texas Milkweed they find in bad years, but I can't prove it. I just know something does that. I'm pretty sure Damianita plants are safe. Oh, yes, and Four-Nerve Daisy, Navajo Tea, Zexmenia and Skeleton Plant...haven't seen any damage.
http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/publications/deerbest.html
This message was edited Jun 22, 2008 11:34 AM
Go to this thread...she has conducted a study of what deer "will, won't, and maybe will" eat. It's really helpful to those of us who contend with them on a daily basis.
Sandi
(Oh, and did I mention...good luck!)
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/834602/
I've seen the deer eat datura if they're hungry enough, but you can still find a variety plants they avoid in most instances. I've got a herd of 17 deer in the front yard as I type this, and they are ignoring the following: Autumn Sage, Big Muhly, Texas Sage, Lantana, Oleander, Texas Mountain Laurel, Texas Betony, Copper Canyon Daisy, Rosemary, Indigo Spires Salvia, Mexican Oregano, Cedar Sage, Agarita.
You can add plants from the many lists of deer resistant plants on a trial and error basis, but plant them among or behind masses of the salvias/sages. Good luck - it can be done.
One more trick....feed them corn and carrots and they'll eat, then leave to visit the neighbor's yard!
I work on a 25 acre tree farm/nursery & we have a list but I agree with that landscaper.
I moved to the country & the deer cross my place to get down to the lake. I have not found any thing they will not eat!
I have resorted to raised beds & chicken wire! That works the best for me. The wire can't be seen for a distance so my plants are protected.
My yard is fenced so that they don't ever come in it...at least it happens very very rarely. The fawn that got in briefly this year...I'm still wondering how that one got in. The rest of the property is pretty much plants native to my area and most are left alone. Of course, not a lot of deer come around here...many parts of the Texas Hill Country are more overpopulated. With extremely heavily overpopulated deer areas, you see more desperate starving deer who will eat just about anything.
Some of my neighbors have remarked that when they were growing up there were few deer in the county, but as the emphasis change from growing cotton, corn or peanuts to raising cattle, the deer population has exploded. The reasons: transforming crop fields into pastures allowed trees to move in providing shelter, stock ponds abound providing water and corn based grain provide extra food. Although they are mainly browsers, they will eat the improved grasses we plant for our cattle. As accessible as my yard is to deer, I don't have a problem with them eating my plants, our dog keeps them out.
Some time last year, "Texas Gardner" has a very informative article on deer. The article started with the question of deer resistant plants. Quickly answered: None if deer are desperate enough. Deer will pick some plants over others given a choice. What they wouldn't tough one year, they would devour the next. So the article concentrated on discussing deer behavior and shared test results of products meant to deter deer. None of the products tested worked for long. Best long term solutions: Get a dog, install game fences, use one of those motion sensor/impulse sprinkler gadgets, plant thick hedges or turn large spaces into small garden rooms. It seems deer will not jump into a small space.
Signs of a bad year....the grown deer are showing up around here in daytime (fawns have been left "hidden" on the property fairly often, but that's different). In some places seeing deer near houses in broad daylight is common...here it's not. Yucca and sometimes even Devil's Shoestring leaves pulled out. The coons are getting bad also, showing up as early as 3 or 4 p.m. and they are very bold and hungry. An armadillo is damaging things in the yard as well as the property. I'm thinking about trapping that one.
Here is a very extensive list of deer resistant plants.
http://www.npsot.org/plant_lists/deer_resistant.html
Josephine.
thanks everyone for your response ...... I have decided that my garden was best used this year to feed the hungry deer ....... I live in an area that have fairly large herds of deer that roam sparsely developed neighborhoods ....... I can concur with the daytimne movement of our deer herds .... they are having to move continuosly just to survive ....... and the fawns when they should be hidden somewhere, are moving right along with their mothers.
Josephine,
thanks for that link as well .... looks very interesting and informative.
james t