Deer Resistant

Deer are always fun to see standing majestically in a field, but decidedly less fun when they find your garden to be a tasty buffet. While a hungry deer will eat just about anything when times are lean, there are a number of plants that are low on their list of favorites. As we know, your best defense against the hungry browsers is to select the right plant for the right place, but what’s a person to do when deer are recent visitors to an already established garden? Keeping deer at bay boils down to essentially two techniques: physically blocking them or making the plant unattractive to them. A deer fence is the physical block that immediately comes to mind. Be sure to build your fence high (7-8 feet is best) as deer are quite gifted at leaping. If you’ve noticed a certain plant is a particular favorite (and a favorite of yours!), try covering it with a decorative wire cloche. If deer rub is your main issue, consider wrapping the trunks of trees during problematic times. As for making the plants unappealing to deer, there are a number of techniques you can attempt. Try scattering hair clippings, hanging bars of heavily scented soap, scattering garlic cloves, or spraying a commercial deer repellent.