Which Plants Deer Won't Eat (Unless Desperate!)
Oh, dear! Do you have problems with deer eating your garden plants? See our list of deer-resistant plants to encourage Bambi to walk on by. Think salvia, sweet alyssum, snapdragons, poppies, globe amaranth, lantana, and cleome. Choose the right plants, and you can have color despite the darn deer!
Let鈥檚 be frank: No plant is absolutely 100% deer-proof. If food is scarce enough, hungry deer have been known to eat almost anything. Deer鈥檚 heaviest browsing occurs from October through February, especially during the difficult winter months.
That said, many plants are much less palatable to deer. Would you eat your least favorite food if your favorite sweets were around the corner? Well, don鈥檛 grow deer鈥檚 favorites (like tender hosta)! Instead, get to know which plants are NOT deer鈥檚 top choice on the menu, so the hungry herds walk by to choose more appetizing choices. They will only choose your plants if they鈥檙e desperate.
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Which Plants Deer Like to Eat
Some plants qualify as 鈥渄eer candy.鈥 We certainly don鈥檛 want to be laying out a deer buffet with our hard-earned dollars.
- Avoid planting narrow-leafed evergreens, especially arborvitae and fir.
- Deer also show a particular preference for hostas, daylilies, and English ivy, according to researchers from the who have studied white-tailed deer damage to nurseries.
Interestingly, several participants in the study noted that deer seem to prefer plants that have been fertilized to those that haven鈥檛.
Which Plants Deer Don鈥檛 Want to Eat
Not surprisingly, deer tend to stay away from poisonous plants. Daffodils, foxgloves, and poppies are common flowers that deer avoid.
- Deer also tend to turn their noses up at fragrant plants with strong scents. Herbs such as , ornamental salvias, and lavender, as well as flowers like peonies and bearded irises, are just 鈥渟tinky鈥 to deer.
- Would you want to eat something prickly? Neither do deer (unless they鈥檙e desperate). Plants such as lamb鈥檚 ear are not on their preferred menu.
Deer-Resistant Plants for Shade
- One of our favorite deer-resistant perennials is the beautiful bleeding heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis, aka Dicentra spectabilis).
- Astilbe are also deer-resistant plants that grow well in the shade. Astilbe 鈥楤ridal Veil鈥, 鈥榁isions鈥, and 鈥楩anal鈥 make a nice mix.
Deer-Resistant Plants for Sun
- Coreopsis verticillata&苍产蝉辫;鈥榋补驳谤别产鈥 attracts butterflies but not deer and offers a long season of bloom from May through September.
- Liatris spicata 鈥楰obold鈥 or Blazing Star is also a sun-loving perennial that isn鈥檛 a popular choice on the deer buffet.
- Echinacea purpurea is one of our favorite native flowers and a magnet for pollinators!
- Another sun-lover is Salvia x sylvestris or Wood Sage.
- Finally, the popular Leucanthemum x superbum 鈥楤ecky鈥 is a popular variety of Shasta Daisy that deer do not favor.
List of Top Deer-Resistant Plants, Flowers, and Shrubs
Research has shown which plants are less likely to be eaten by deer and can be labeled 鈥渄eer-resistant.鈥 Here鈥檚 a list of popular plants that deer rarely or seldom severely damage. Again, keep in mind that the first rule in deer-proofing is that there are no completely deer-proof plants.
| Botanical name | Common name |
| Achillea filipendulina | Yarrow |
| Aconitum sp. | Monkshood |
| Ageratum houstonianum | Ageratum |
| Allium sp. | Onion |
| Amelanchier laevis | Allegheny Serviceberry |
| Antirrhinum majus | Snapdragon |
| Armoracia rusticana | Horseradish |
| Artemisia dracunculus | Tarragon |
| Artemisia sp. | Silver Mound |
| Arisaema triphylum | Jack-in-the-pulpit |
| Asarum canadense | Wild Ginger |
| Asparagus officinalis | Asparagus |
| Aster sp. | Aster |
| Astilbe sp. | Astilbe |
| Berberis sp. | Barberry |
| Borage officinalis | Borage |
| Buddleia sp. | Butterfly Bush |
| Buxus sempervirens | Common Boxwood |
| Helleborus sp. | Lenten or Christmas Rose |
| Cactaceae sp. | Cactus |
| Calendula sp. | Pot Marigold |
| Caryopteris clandonensis | Blue Mist Shrub |
| Centaurea cineraria | Dusty Miller |
| Centaurea cyanus | Bachelor鈥檚 Buttons |
| Cleome sp. | Spider Flower |
| Colchicum sp. | Autumn Crocus |
| Consolida ambigua | Larkspur |
| Convallaris majalis | Lily of the Valley |
| Coreopsis verticillata | Threadleaf Coreopsis |
| Corydalis sp. | Corydalis |
| Cytisus sp. | Broom |
| Daphne sp. | Daphne |
| Dicentra spectabilis now classified as Lamprocapnos spectabilis | Bleeding Heart |
| Digitalis purpurea | Common Foxglove |
| Dryopteris marginalis | Wood Fern |
| Echinacea purpurea | Purple Coneflower |
| Echinops ritro | Small Globe Thistle |
| Endymion sp. | Bluebell |
| Eranthus hyemalis | Winter Aconite |
| Euphorbia marginata | Snow-on-the-Mountain |
| Euphorbia sp. (except 鈥楥hameleon鈥) | Spurge |
| Festuca glauca | Blue Fescue |
| Fritilaria imperialis | Crown Imperial, Fritilia |
| Galanthus nivalis | Snowdrops |
| Gypsophila sp. | Baby鈥檚 Breath |
| Helichrysum | Strawflower |
| Heliorope arborescens | Heliotrope |
| Hyssopus officinalis | Hyssop |
| Ilex opaca | American Holly |
| Ilex verticillata | Winterberry Holly |
| Iris sp. | Iris |
| Juniperus | Juniper |
| Lantana sp. | Lantana |
| Lavandula sp. | Lavender |
| Limonium latifolium | Statice |
| Lobularia maritima | Sweet Alyssum |
| Marrubium vulgare | Horehound |
| Melissa officinalis | Lemon Balm |
| Mentha sp. | Mint |
| Monarda didyma | Bee Balm |
| Myosotis sp. | Forget-Me-Not |
| Myrica pensylvanica | Bayberry |
| Narcissus sp. | Daffodil |
| Nepeta sp. | Catmint |
| Ocimum basilicum | Basil |
| Osmunda | Fern |
| Pachysandra terminalis | Pachysandra |
| Paeonia sp. | Peony |
| Papaver | Poppy |
| Perovskio atriplicifolia | Russian Sage |
| Picea glauca 鈥楥onica鈥 | Dwarf Alberta Spruce |
| Pimpinalla anisum | Anise |
| Pinus | Pine |
| Potentilla | Cinquefoil |
| Ranunculus sp. | Buttercup |
| Rhus aromatica | Fragrant Sumac |
| Rosmarinus officinalis | Rosemary |
| Rudbeckia sp. | Black-Eyed Susan |
| Ruta sp. | Rue |
| Salix | Willows |
| Salvia officinalis | Garden Sage |
| Stachys byzantina | Lamb鈥檚 Ear |
| Syringa vulgaris | Common Lilac |
| Tanacetum vulgare | Common Tansy |
| Teucrium chamaedrys | Germander |
| Thumus sp. | Thyme |
| Yucca | Yucca |
| Viburnum dentatum | Arrowwood Viburnum |
| Zinnia | Zinnia |
Credit:
Note: Even 鈥渞esistant鈥 varieties can be vulnerable in the first few weeks after planting when their leaf tissue is especially nitrogen-rich. If you have major deer problems, we recommend spraying new plants with a deer repellent for 3 to 4 weeks after planting to prevent them from being nibbled on and damaged. Even if they are feasted on, as long as the root systems of the plants are not damaged, the plants should survive.
Click to read more tips on how to deter deer in the garden!
What are your favorite deer-resistant plants?
Catherine Boeckmann
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We have to fence in our Bleeding hearts, otherwise, the nibble them right down to the Ground.
I have seen deer eat ivy. A friend had deer eat all her flowers, so she stuck fake flowers in the ground. Next day she noticed they even pulled them up! They must of discovered they were fake, and spit them out!
Thanks very much.
Very helpful article!
An old woman from Eastern Europe gave me this tip. Since deer will avoid meat produce, smearing the leaves of plants with animal fat will keep them away.
Nana would always "Feed " the Deer AWAY from her gardens until spring. MARIGOLDS DEER DO NOT LIKE! HANDS DOWN! Now as to Deer Resistance, she would save" The pie pans(Aluminum )" ones the ones from say from store bought Apple, Pumpkin, or just plain go and buy some, and string a few around her Gardens, Yes gaudy looking BUT when they are rattling in the breeze or swinging the noise and flashing deter the deer, as well as " Liquid Fence"! The Latter stinks at first then not so much. Up Side DEER HATE the concoction, down side, it will have to dry completely and needs to be applied after EVERY RAIN! I Highly Recommend the CONCENTRATE and a small garden Pump Sprayer, seems the Ready Mix is a bit weak. I go around my Property , and spray the Gardens as well . I have watched the deer come to the line STAMP there feet nose the ground and walk away. Also my rednose Pitty keeps them away. She tells them" MY PROPERTY" My Other "Children" have made 'friends' with them LOL some watch dogs. Good Planting All. "Plant Long and Prosper,' May The Force Be with You"
My grandmother raised us with the notion that every creature has a right to food. Some days it was her turn to feed the wildlife found near her farm. We have a herd of eight deer that wander the neighborhood. They have done a wonderful job of cleaning up grass clippings, managing the berry patch, and keeping some other weeds under control. During the winter they cleaned up the bird seed that fell out of the feeders.
There is this plant with little purple-pink flowers that the deer seem to avoid even walking in. Some one said it is in the mint family and grows very well in shade. The food garden came with an electric fence. I'll see how things go with the deer this summer. I want to take the fence down.
No such thing here on the east coast of Florida. I gave up gardening entirely. Why waste my money to feed the deer. I might as well go buy sacks of kernel corn for them.
They will certainly eat zinnias.
The deer eat everything except my Primrose. They have NEVER bothered them. They eat my Hosta, my Black-eyed Susan's and my Reblooming Daylilies.
We bought starter peppers that we thought were mild bell peppers. They weren't. We have Scandinavian roots and we can't tolerate too much heat in our peppers, but we tried. These peppers grew really well and we tried to bake and stuff them, put them in soups, pair them with cheese...nothing helped the hotness... but one morning...they were all gone from the garden - like, 30 hot peppers! The deer ate them! We laughed at the image. Do you think it was deer? Or something else?
