topic Re: Need deer resistant plants! in Garden

Need deer resistant plants!

kwish — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 22:26:55 GMT

I need some ideas for deer resistant plants. Full sun in one area and in the other area it is partial shade w/afternoon sun. The deer are completely destroying everything. My hostas are just coming up and I suspect they will be eaten down to the nub within a week. I even came home to find the deer in the act of eating my rose bush last year, which was covered in thorns! I used to really like deer...before I realized they are out to get me. Any help would be appreciated!

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

Bestdressed — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 22:38:26 GMT

Good luck..they love salad bar at my house!

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

RedTop — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 22:54:28 GMT

I live in southern WV, and our deer will eat anything. The only thing that works to keep them off our property and away from our plants is pellets and buckshot.

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

pattypeep — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 22:59:52 GMT

Your best bet may be to search the internet. There are a few plants that are deer resistant ~

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

Happy Elizabeth — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 23:00:29 GMT

Generally, deer do not like Lavender, Nepeta, and Perovskia. All of those are easily available at garden centers and bloom in full or partial sun. My parents have very aggressive deer, and those are the only flowering plants that I can plant that they don't eat.

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

JustJazzmom — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 23:06:41 GMT

You need deer fencing around your property. Look on the internet for various kinds of deer fencing.

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

Allegheny — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 23:24:54 GMT

Dear Kwish,

I sympathize with you. I've lived in my home in the woods for 27 years. We have plenty of deer and other wild life and until two years ago were very fortunate in having the deer leave my plantings untouched.

Seems to me one of them discovered all my plants and told the others. Giant Hosta I've had growing for over 10 years were eaten to the ground. They never before bothered my day lilies or rudbeckia. So I am on a search for a product to deter them. I am always home and rarely am able to catch them in the act. I am holding off any new planting until I can discover something that deters them. Seems the only things they haven't eaten is hydrangea, grasses, and some shrubbery. There is no way I can afford to erect deer fencing, we have over 4 acres.

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

skuggles — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 23:26:43 GMT

rabbits do the same in my yard. Out of about one hundred crocuses, there were two blooms this year. They chewed everything to within one inch of the ground. I give up. I just went out yesterday and tore every last one out of the ground. I will continue removing the plants that they love, until there is no more reason to come to my yard, any more. Tulips and azaleas are another of their favorites. Then there are scabiosa, mallow, showy primrose, purple grape hyacinth, day lilies, and of course many annuals, the bark of; roses, euonymus, rose of sharon, and verbena. I will have very little left. They have destroyed a rather large investment that I had made in my gardens.

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

kwish — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 23:54:08 GMT

Thanks to everyone. Deer fencing around the property is not an option right now due to the cost, although it might be coming down to doing just that if we have another bad year. The amount I have spent on wasted plants/flowers over the years probably surpass that amount anyway!

We have only been in the house for 3 years. The first year I planted about 80 bulbs, the first year I had a garden full of beautiful tulips. I have never seen them again I have also tried lavender but had no luck with growing that, although I am going to try again this year.

My child had a project at school and we needed to plant a cabbage plant today. I just went to the store and bought Irish Spring soap, I read a few things on Pinterest about putting shavings out to deter them, as well as planting marigolds. I'm going to give both a shot and see what happens. I obviously put fencing up around the cabbage. It will be nothing short of a miracle if that plants survives. Fingers crossed!

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

Allegheny — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 00:00:35 GMT

kwish, I have heard the presence of human scent might help. Some people collect the cut hair from their hair dressers shops and spread it on the ground around their plants.

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

kwish — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 00:18:22 GMT

On 4/21/2014 Allegheny said:
kwish, I have heard the presence of human scent might help. Some people collect the cut hair from their hair dressers shops and spread it on the ground around their plants.

I JUST read the same thing! HA. I'm going to try that this week.

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

jlkz — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 00:29:20 GMT

Good luck deterring deer. We have been using a natural concoction for repelling deer. It needs to be reps rayed every 2 months. It seemed to be working until this past bitter winter. They ate almost everything -- even my iris and devoured the flowering willow shrub and burning bush!!!

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

ValuSkr — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 01:46:59 GMT

I feel for you. There are plenty of deer around here but I've had no problems so far. It must be quite upsetting to see your plants eaten after all the work you've put into it, not to mention the investment. There are commercial deer repellents you can spray on plants. Have you looked into that? My mother has had good luck with them but I'm sorry I don't know which one she uses. I think they need to re-applied after a rain.

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

Helping — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 01:55:28 GMT

The only flowers the deer don't eat at my Mom's house are Lenten roses. Plant in the same areas as your hostas. If your deer are the same as at my Mom's, yes, your hosta will be eaten down. Sorry. And any deer repellent has to be reapplied after rain. My Mom used a homemade concoction that included egg. Probably can find on the internet. Mom gave up on it because the frequent reapplication was too much for her.

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

Annabellethecat66 — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 02:00:53 GMT

Yes, this Winter they ate, ate and ate! I had bushes that were wonderful right up against my house (lights on 24 hours) and they ate almost down to the dirt.

They are trying to come back, but it doesn't look good. I planted those bushes when I built this house 36 years ago!

I don't know what to do. They are everywhere. They are so beautiful, but good grief! I keep saying,"Get over yourself! GOD made them too. It's only plants. But I just stand there and look at the dirt!"

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

Allegheny — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 02:09:24 GMT

On 4/21/2014 annabellethecat said:
Yes, this Winter they ate, ate and ate! I had bushes that were wonderful right up against my house (lights on 24 hours) and they ate almost down to the dirt.

They are trying to come back, but it doesn't look good. I planted those bushes when I built this house 36 years ago!

I don't know what to do. They are everywhere. They are so beautiful, but good grief! I keep saying,"Get over yourself! GOD made them too. It's only plants. But I just stand there and look at the dirt!"

I feel the same. I give them a break in the winter. I figured they need to eat. But once spring gets here they have a bounty of other goodies, so I'm going to go out and give them a piece of my mind. They are so accustomed to us we drive up our lane and they just stand and watch us and keep on grazing. We also have groundhog and they haven't bothered our plants too much. We rarely see rabbits any more

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

JustJazzmom — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 02:45:30 GMT

There is a book a friend of mine wrote called Gardening in Deer Country and he lists via category which plants are less likely to be devoured by those pesky herbivores!

Companion book-- Flowers & Borders in Deer Country

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

mcogirl — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 02:50:11 GMT

Society garlic..pretty purple flower..the deer won't touch it.AS I too had a problem with the deer eating up my flower beds and plants..ugh..Good Luck

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

KYToby — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 06:01:52 GMT

Good luck with your deer problem. Having grown up in rural South Carolina, we had our fair share of deer who feasted on our garden. My mother (an animal lover) never had problems with it -- until they got in her tomatoes, and then it was war! We never did find a solution, but generally our dogs would raise a fuss whenever the deer came up outside, so my mother's solution was to "release the hounds' (or in our case Dalmatians), and the dogs generally frightened the deer away.

My great uncle, a citrus grower in Florida, had an issue with deer attacking his young trees as well as his home garden. He went to the barber shop and got a bunch of hair trimmings (that they swept up during the dairy from cutting hair). He put these trimmings in knee high stockings and hung them in his grove and garden. Supposedly, the smell of human hair kept the deer away. He changed out the hair every few weeks. I do not know if it works, but he swore by it.

Re: Need deer resistant plants!

kwish — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 14:30:40 GMT

On 4/21/2014 KYToby said:
Good luck with your deer problem. Having grown up in rural South Carolina, we had our fair share of deer who feasted on our garden. My mother (an animal lover) never had problems with it -- until they got in her tomatoes, and then it was war! We never did find a solution, but generally our dogs would raise a fuss whenever the deer came up outside, so my mother's solution was to "release the hounds' (or in our case Dalmatians), and the dogs generally frightened the deer away.

My great uncle, a citrus grower in Florida, had an issue with deer attacking his young trees as well as his home garden. He went to the barber shop and got a bunch of hair trimmings (that they swept up during the dairy from cutting hair). He put these trimmings in knee high stockings and hung them in his grove and garden. Supposedly, the smell of human hair kept the deer away. He changed out the hair every few weeks. I do not know if it works, but he swore by it.

Someone else had suggested the hair trimmings as well. I am going to the salon this week, so I will get some and see if that works. I also tried the commercial deer repellent sprays but the upkeep was too much having to go out all the time to reapply. Our neighbor has a dog and they do not care. I watched one a few weeks ago within a foot of their fence and the dog was on the other side barking. It just stood there. They usually come at least 3 at a time and sometimes the younger ones will scurry off by the barking, but the older ones...forget about it. During the winter, my husband was out there with a spoon and a pot trying to scare a buck and he started to walk right up to my husband. They just do not scare etc...