If there was one complaint we heard plenty this summer, it was about plants being munched up left and right by deer. Some folks said they would plant up some brilliantly blooming specimens when it seemed that the word got out that their yard was the new delectable buffet in town. The blossoms would be gobbled up in a heartbeat as the herd would move along swiftly to each course. “It use to be that they would sneak around and do their damage in the cover of night…”, might say one bewildered gardener, “…but now they are being so blatant, and boastful about it, come early dusk they just look at me from under their frilly lashes with their lower jaw slowly masticating my rose buds! Even some of the plants I researched that were supposedly deer proof have fallen victim to their gnashing teeth. The nerve!” Yes, they do have quite some nerve, especially when the weather turns against them and offers little to no rain to quench their thirst and they find that their food sources have become quite scarce. Think how you would feel if during the hottest heat of the summer the well suddenly ran dry and stayed that way for a long time. No water available from the faucet, no ice cubes to plunk into a glass of tea, the vegetables in your garden shriveled like old apple cores. You might have to resort to some source you normally wouldn’t think of touching to get some fluid and nutrients into your system and this is exactly what the deer do. So today we’ll talk some about deer-resistant plants and what that really means, deer-repellents and what that really means, and give you a few interesting tips you may not have tried yet for keeping these slender-legged creatures from invading your personal space.
(Who, me?)
One of the biggest requests we get here at Rainbow Gardens is suggestions for deer-proof plants. We do have some great resources for you to browse through, including an updated list of recommended plants sorted by category, but what you first must realize is that there is no such thing as a truly “deer-proof” plant. Unless you are interested in the fake, plastic varieties, you must first come to terms with this fact. This is one of the reasons all of our signs and literature have the term “deer -resistant” on them, and not “deer-proof”. Resistant means characterized by showing resistance, which is the act or power of opposing or withstanding. Now that we’ve had our English lesson, what I am trying to state is that these “deer-resistant” varieties are those that deer are most likely not to bother. If deer could read, planting these would be like posting a sign that said, “Warning, these plants taste yucky. Best be on your way.” You must always keep in mind the fact that if a deer gets hungry enough, it will chew on plants it might even find repulsive. One of the biggest reasons that deer start to merge into our landscape is when their food source gets scarce. When they are not able to forage adequately due to drought in the summers or tough winters, you are more apt to find them nosing around your garden and patios full of potted plants. If they feel they are starving, any plant is fair game. So now that I’ve burst your bubble and you realize that there is always a possibility that even your “deer-resistant” plant could still get nibbled, it’s still a safer bet to choose plants from the list. You will find that you can still have a beautiful, colorful garden with these options, and better yet, you are more apt to keep your color because most likely the deer won’t chomp the blooms. Flowering Quince, Butterfly Bush, Flame Acanthus, Dwarf Plumbago, Fall Aster, Moss Verbenas, Purple Fountain Grass, Redbuds, and Zinnia are just a tiny example of the brilliant color available to you. Please be sure to click on our link to see our “deer-resistant plant list” to really explore the wonderful options from which to choose.
(Beautiful fall aster is on the deer-resistant list. Perfect for planting now.)
On the other hand of “deer-resistant” plants is choosing to not plant varieties that deer find absolutely delectable. Know the phrase, “like a kid in a candy store”? That’s a great analogy for what a deer will look and act like when it encounters its favorite plants. Deciding to plant these in your landscape would be like posting the opposite sign of the one above, “Welcome, these plants taste yummy. Please come in and ravage them.” You may even be inviting deer that would otherwise pass right by your home on their way to an unsuspecting neighbor’s yard. So, if you find that these types of plants are your favorites, remember that they are also favorites of the deer, so you might try to use them sparingly or simply be prepared to deal with the consequences. Faves in our area (especially if they are new and tender): Azaelas, Camelias, Hybrid Tea Roses, Hydrangeas, Fruit trees/shrubs-(apple, peach, plum, pear, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries), Daylilies, Impatiens, Pansies, Pholx, Hosta, Japanese Yew, Fringe Tree, English Ivy, Euonymus, Veggies-(beans, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, peas, sweet corn). Now this is not a full comprehensive list, and each deer has its own personal palate. You could find some rogue deer that decides its favorite is something off the deer-resistant list, but chances are if you plant these favorites listed above, you are going to need to take some measures to protect them from the gnashing of teeth.
(Camellia, like a big puff of cotton candy to the deer’s palate.)
So what can you do to protect your lovely plants and trees? Well, here’s a little word about repellents which are deterrents to assist in keeping the deer from a munching free-for-all. You need to keep a few things in mind when shopping for and applying repellents. Note that not all repellents work the same way. Some are more weather resistant than others, meaning you might need to reapply more often during rainy periods or after sprinklers have gone off, depending on the product. Repellents only reduce the amount of time or amount of deer that visit your landscape, they will not completely eliminate them. Repellents usually won’t stop a buck from rubbing off the itchy fuzz on its antlers against your trees or trying to saturate the tree bark with scents from the glands on his head, so if you have some young or small trees that will be susceptible it’s best to fence them in. And again, when their food is scarce, the repellent probably won’t matter to them. They will put aside their taste bud preferences and muscle through it. The only true way to deer proof your garden is the installation of a 10 foot fence which gate is always closed. This might not be so feasible where you live, so you will probably have to try some other type of strategy. The strategies to deter deer are vast, some more effective then others, but the key is to use several different deterrent tactics, changing things up to keep the element of surprise in your favor. Deer do not like anything new, they are quite neophobic, so by juggling your scare or repellent tactics, it will keep them from catching on to what you are doing and getting used to them.
(Hey, I gotta get this fuzz off somehow!)
The truth here is that you are just going to have to try and see what works for you. What appears to be favorable is to try to assault the deer in all of its five senses: smell, sight, taste, sound, and touch. There is a whole world of recipes for making icky smelling things to ward off the deer in your garden. What I find is that what they are smelling, you have to smell too, at least while you are making it. My gag reflex will not allow me to successfully create my own deer repellent, but if you are able to mix up a batch of “garlic and rotten eggs” to spray on your plants, more power to you. Fortunately the scent will go away to the human nose after the spray has dried, but the deer will still detect it. You can make your own products like this (google homemade deer deterrents) or purchase a commercial product like Liquid Fence or Deer Off. You’ll have to read the labels to check when you will need to reapply and to be aware of its effectiveness after rainfall. Some other scent deterrents are hanging bars of soap from trees, human hair (collect it in bulk from beauty parlors and barber shops) and hang from nylon stockings around garden area to be protected, animal fur, and blood meal (apply as a top dressing and it’s good for your plants too or hang it in pouches like the human hair). You get a bonus if you take the human hair or dog fur and mix it into your soil, because as it decomposes, it provides 14.4% nitrogen into your soil.
(The nose always knows!)
If you are in luck, you have a dog or two at home that can not only assist you with your smell tactics by so generously offering to shed copious amounts of fur, but you can also open the door and unleash the fury (or furry) and play upon the sight sense of the deer. Startle deer by letting Fido out the door to chase them away. Don’t have a furry friend at home? Keep them suspicious with changing activity at your home, flood them with a flash of bright lights, hang scraps of metal or aluminum pie pans that will suddenly glint in the sun. There are commercial products you can find such as mechanical scarecrows that jerk and flap occasionally (regular ones don’t work as the deer just start to accept them into their surroundings) but with a little ingenuity and a whole lot of googling, I bet you can come up with one of your own. Family backyard project anyone?
(Not much gets by these eyes.)
Another way of startling deer is through their sense of touch. A well-timed sprinkler spray could send a deer at least to the neighbor’s yard and maybe further. A string of heavy fishing line at a height of 2 feet around the perimeter of your garden could surprise the deer when it sees nothing, yet feels something abnormal when it walks into it. It will probably be pretty entertaining to watch as the deer gets spooked and hightails it out of there. You’ll just have to remember where you placed it or you could end up in a tangled mess and find yourself being laughed at by the deer.
(It might be something as inexpensive and easy as some fishing line that does that trick.)
A deer also knows which sound is normal in its world, so anything that moves on the sound waves that is not in their normal repertoire is reason enough for them to skedaddle. Go back to those pie pans I mentioned in the sight section, they will make an unusual clanking noise that could be enough to scare a deer off, string together tin cans like you are decorating a “Just Got Married” car and hang them around to clatter in the wind. Don’t just stand in the window crying into your t-shirt if you see the deer ripping your impatiens to shreds, go out there and in a loud, booming voice yell “Scat!” or whatever choice words come to mind. Human voices, dogs barking, radios playing all will keep the deer at bay at least for awhile, and then mix it up with another tactic like playing with their sense of taste.
(The sound of a fluttering leaf I’m not expecting can send me flying over the fence.)
Deer choose what plant they are going to eat from taste and habit. If it tasted good before, they remember it and will go back to it. If it taste something gross, and it has other options, it will move on to those other options. However, it can only make the decision that a plant tastes bad by giving it a few nibbles, so you will probably still incur some damage to your plant, albeit minimal from what it could be without the taste repellent. You could try hot pepper spray, rotten egg spray, soapy bathwater spray, or any number of the commercial products. You could also try planting a perimeter of those plants that deer don’t like the taste of, perhaps some aromatic rosemary as a nice protective border. Maybe they will try those first and get tricked into thinking there is nothing worthwhile around.
(If I don’t taste it, I won’t know if it’s good or bad!)
I love the “A Deer’s ‘To-Do’ List” that is found in Deerproofing Your Yard and Garden by Rhonda Massingham Hart. It goes as follows: 1. Don’t get eaten 2.Eat 3.Rest 4. Dominate other deer. So you can see how eating is pretty high on their list of priorities. If all of this seems like a whole bunch of commotion to solve this problem, well, it is! And hopefully you have neighbors who understand or, better yet, want to jump on the bandwagon. You could all take turns with your tactics, maybe implementing some sort of rotating schedule. If one thing doesn’t work, don’t give up, just keep trying til you find that magic combo. A deer has got to eat, so you can either try your best to avoid planting their food sources, knowing there will always be the exception, or spend your time trying to keep them away from it, knowing that it could drive you to a special padded room in the insane asylum. Either way, it should be an interesting journey.
(Bon appetit!)
-The Happy Gardener
-Lisa Mulroy
