As an avid gardener, I maintain a healthy backyard habitat—and I love seeing the birds and other wildlife sharing my space. But what I don’t enjoy is when some of my wild neighbors get a wee bit greedy!
The number one culprit, as most gardeners know, is deer. They’re notorious for browsing, taking a bite here and there as they walk along. Their damage is upsetting for most of us because they’ll eat everything from vegetables, such as tomatoes and beans, to ornamental plants such as hostas, daylilies, hydrangeas, and arborvitae.
Outsmarting them isn’t easy. It’s also important to understand that there’s no such thing as “deer proof” plants. There are some that they don’t typically eat, or that can recover from light deer browse. But all bets are off if there’s a large deer population and food is scarce because they’ll nibble on things they may have never before tried.
You can tell you have deer problems in a few different ways. Obviously, seeing them gives you a positive ID. But you also may notice signs such as torn vegetation that’s not neatly clipped like rabbit damage because deer have no upper incisors, only a hard palate. They feed on plants from the ground up to about 6 feet high. You may also see tracks or roundish or pellet-shaped droppings.
Nuisance wildlife experts recommend fencing as the gold standard to keep deer out—but it’s not always practical and doesn’t exactly scream “curb appeal” in your front yard. I’ve also never found deer repellents, including commercial products or homemade remedies, to be reliable. Some gardeners swear by them, but there’s little science that they’re foolproof—and they get expensive because you must reapply after rain. Plus, not all products are safe for using on edible crops.
Instead, I focus on planting what deer are least likely to chow down on. Year after year, here’s what has proven to be the most deer-resistant plants in my garden. But remember, there are no guarantees. Your deer may have their own ideas about what’s on the all-you-can-eat menu:
Salvia
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Botanical Name: Salvia spp.
Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade
Soil Type: Average to poor, well-draining
Soil pH: Acidic to neutral
Salvia has beautiful spikes of deep purple, white or pink flowers that buzz with pollinators. They’re easily one of the most loved flowers by the bumblebees, carpenter bees, and honeybees in my garden. Salvia is heat and drought-tolerant once established.
Ageratum
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Botanical Name: Ageratum houstonianum
Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade
Soil pH: Slightly acidic to neutral
Also known as flossflower, this pretty annual has whimsical, threadlike blooms that pollinators—especially butterflies—adore. It blooms all summer, well past most of the rest of your annuals, making it a great addition to containers for season-long color.
Catmint
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Botanical Name: Nepeta spp.
Soil pH: Neutral to slightly alkaline
Minty-smelling, silvery-green foliage is topped by purple, pinkish, or white spikes of flowers that bloom for weeks. There are many different cultivars of catmint, but most grow well in all types of soils and are drought-tolerant once established. It’s an ideal low-maintenance choice I’ve planted everywhere in landscape beds and along walkways, and I’ve never had a single plant nibbled by deer (or rabbits).
Lavender
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Botanical Name: Lavandula sp.
Soil Type: Well drained, sandy, rocky
Lavender doesn’t mind heat and thrives in poor soils like my sandy yard. This perennial gets better year after year, and deer generally steer clear of its fragrance and texture. Bonus: Because deer aren’t munching on the flowers, I can use them for dried bouquets and sachets.
Calamint
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Botanical Name:Calamintha nepeta
Soil Type: Poor, sandy, rocky, well-draining
Soil pH: Slightly acidic to alkaline
This lesser-known mounding perennial has tiny minty-scented leaves and white flowers that pollinators love. It’s low-maintenance and adaptable to many conditions, including poor soils. It also grows well in part shade and is drought-tolerant once established. I especially love its faint scent when you brush against it.
Hardy Geranium
Southern Living/Adrienne Legault
Botanical Name:Geranium spp.
Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade
Soil Type: Average to poor, well-draining
Perennial geraniums, also known as cranesbill geranium due to the shape of the flowers, are a type of hardy, fast-spreading groundcover. The delicate, butterfly-like blooms float over the spicy-scented foliage from late spring to early summer; some types rebloom. They tend to do best with afternoon shade in very hot areas.
Sweet Alyssum
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Botanical Name: Lobularia maritima
Sun Exposure: Full to part sun
Soil Type: Average, moist, well-draining
Soil pH: Slightly acidic to neutral
Low-growing sweet alyssum blooms from spring to a hard frost, so it’s an excellent addition to beds and containers. Teeny honey-scented flowers cover this annual plant, and it’s gorgeous cascading over walls and out of containers. It’s my favorite deer-resistant annual.
Daffodil
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Botanical Name: Narcissus spp.
Soil pH: Slightly acidic to neutral
I love spring-flowering bulbs, and so do my resident deer (rabbits and voles, too!). I’ve given up on most spring bulbs, except for daffodils, which deer and other wildlife tend to leave alone. These low-maintenance perennials burst into bloom from early to late spring, depending on the variety, and they’ve never been eaten by wildlife like my tulips, alliums, and crocuses.
Coleus
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Botanical Name:Coleus scutellarioides
Sun Exposure: Full sun to full shade
Soil Type: Rich, moist, well-draining
Soil pH: Slightly acidic to neutral
Grown for their gorgeous foliage, rather than their flowers, coleus comes in an array of stunning shapes, sizes, and colors. Once a plant only for shade, many new varieties that can take full sun have been introduced in recent years. I find the colors of this annual are best with morning sun and afternoon shade. I love planting these in containers, then setting them in garden beds for a pop of striking color.
Agastache
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Botanical Name:Agastache spp.
Soil Type: Average, well-draining
Soil pH: Slightly acidic to neutral
This upright clumping perennial is experiencing a resurgence of interest. Once you could barely find this plant, also known as hummingbird mint, but many new cultivars have been introduced in recent years. Its pretty peach, pink, red, purple, blue, or white flowers attract pollinators, but deer in my garden leave it alone.
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