Gardens in the Northeast are increasingly becoming “fast food” for deer. In a drought situation, the deer especially appreciate our efforts to keep our gardens watered. Flower buds are a deer delicacy not to be passed up! There are no plants that are completely deer proof, however there are several things you can do to keep deer away from your garden. Commercial repellent sprays can be used, but they are not completely effective. The sprays need to be re-applied after every rainfall. If you have a wet spring, this could mean a lot of spraying. Human hair (available at your nearest hair salon) spread in among your plants, repels deer for awhile. “Soap-on-a-rope:, strategically hung in various spots in your garden, is also somewhat effective. Continually changing the scents in your garden by alternating these methods is very effective. Once something becomes familiar to deer, they are no longer afraid. The only way to keep deer away is to use plants they do not like. Deer seem to avoid leaves which are aromatic, leathery or very hairy. Below is a list of plants not so tasty to deer.
Achillea
Aconitum
Adenophora
Ageratum (annual)
Ajuga
Alchemilla
Allium (bulb)
Aurinia
Amsonia
Anaphalis
Anchusa
Aquilegia
Arabis
Arenaria
Artemisia
Aruncus
Aster
Astilbe
Astrantia
Baptisia
Belamcanda
Bergenia
Bignonia (vine)
Boltonia
Brunnera
Calendula (annual)
Caltha
Campanula
Campsis (vine)
Caryopteris
Cassia
Centaurea
Cerastium
Chionodoxa (bulb)
Chrysogonum
Chrysopsis
Cimicifuga
Clematic (vine)
Colchicum (bulb)
Convallaria
Coreopsis
Crambe
Crocosmia (cover buds)
Crocus (bulb)
Cyclamen (bulb)
Dianthus
Digitalis
Doronicum
Echinacea
Epimedium
Eranthus (bulb)
Erica
Eryngium
Eupatorium
Filipendula
Gaillardia
Gaultheria
Geranium
Geum
Gladiolus (bulb; cover buds)
Gypsophila
Helenium
Helianthus
Helleborus
Heuchera
Hibiscus (cover buds)
Iberis
Incarvillea
Iris
Kirengeshoma
Lamium
Lavandula
Ligularia
Lilium (cover buds)
Liriope
Lonicera (vine)
Lychnis
Lysimachia
Monarda
Myosotis
Nepeta
Omphalodes
Ophiopogon
Pachysandra
Paeonia
Papaver
Parthenocissus (vine)
Penstemon
Perovskia
Physostegia
Platycodon
Podophyllum
Polygonatum (vine)
Primula
Pulmonaria
Pycnanthemum
Pyrethrum
Rodgersia
Rosemary
Rudbeckia
Rue
Salvia
Sanguinaria
Sanguisorba
Santolina
Sarcococca
Saxifraga
Sedum (groundcover types)
Sempervivum
Silene
Sisyrinthium
Smilacina
Snow Drop (bulb)
Solidage
Solidaster
Stokesia
Stachys
Symphtyum
Teucrium
Thalictrum
Thermopsis
Thymus
Tiarella
Tricyrtis
Trollius
Verbascum
Vernonia
Veronica
Vinca
Waldsteinia
Wisteria (vine)
Yucca
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