What should you do to keep deer from making a banquet of your garden?
By Valerie F. Reinhardt, Horticulture Manager
Deer predation of garden plants has become an increasing problem. One issue is that deer populations in suburban areas have been squeezed into smaller foraging areas, thereby shrinking their food supply. Suburban deer also don’t have natural predators, so their numbers are higher. High populations and short food supply lead hungry deer to your garden smorgasbord.
About the only guaranteed way to prevent deer from eating through your garden is fencing. Remember that deer can leap a six-foot fence, so many common chain-link fences will not deter them. If fencing isn’t practical for you, you may want to try netted deer fencing that can keep them out of your vegetable garden provided it’s tall enough. You may also try a motion-activated sprinkler or perhaps a barking dog to scare them away. Hanging pie tins and other shiny objects may scare them away initially, but they wise up to them quickly.
Fencing is an almost guaranteed way to prevent deer from eating through your garden.
You may also be able to deter deer through smell, texture, toxicity and taste. Deer bypass fragrant herbs like lavender, basil, rosemary, catmint and sage. Plant these in and around your vegetables to disguise your luscious lettuce and tempting tomatoes. Deer don’t like fuzzy, thorny and rough-textured plants like spirea, lambs’ ear and ornamental grasses because they are not palatable. These might be better choices for outlying landscape gardens. Poisonous plants are off the menu as well. Deer won’t eat daffodils, foxgloves, poppies, and a few other toxic lovelies but delight in daylilies and hosta. When it comes to taste, deer generally don’t like anything with a bitter or medicinal taste, but if food is short, they will eat them. You can spray some of their favorite plants with pepper spray, but they may still take a bite or two before turning away. There are assorted sprays that use smell and taste to keep deer at bay, but remember those wash off in the rain and must be reapplied regularly.
Marigolds
The long and the short of it is that there are very few “deer proof” plants, but there are many that are low on their list. Choosing the right plants can make for a nice deer-resistant garden. To learn more about deer-resistant plants, visit the Plant Science Center at Lake Metroparks Farmpark.
Peonies & lambs' ear
Iris