Resistant means deer prefer other food
Every deer resistant plant list is a ranking. Deer are browsers with a wide diet, and what they leave alone depends on what else is on offer. In June, with lawn edges, clover and soft new growth everywhere, they are picky. In late winter, after a stretch of snow cover and with the woods browsed down, the same animals will strip plants they ignored all summer.
Herd size matters as much as plant choice: a property that backs onto a wooded creek or a park sees more pressure than one in the middle of a block.
Young deer also sample. A yearling will bite a plant to find out what it is, spit it out, and leave a torn stem behind. That is why a new bed of genuinely resistant plants can still look chewed in its first few weeks.
What deer avoid, and why
The plants deer pass over share a handful of traits:
- Strong scent. The biggest one. The aromatic oils in catmint, Russian sage, lavender and bee balm put off an animal that relies on smell to choose food.
- Fuzzy or hairy leaves. Lamb’s ear and similar foliage are an unpleasant texture in the mouth.
- Spines and prickles. An obvious deterrent.
- Toxic or bitter chemistry. The most dependable trait of all. Daffodils, hellebores and Japanese pieris carry compounds that make deer sick, and deer learn quickly.
- Tough, leathery or fibrous foliage. Boxwood, ornamental grasses and most ferns simply are not worth the effort when softer food is nearby.
The most resistant plants combine two of these traits. Boxwood is both bitter and tough, which is why it is one of the very few shrubs deer leave alone nearly everywhere.
One to skip: Japanese barberry is close to deer-proof, but it is an invasive shrub in Pennsylvania woods and is on the state noxious weed list, so it can no longer be sold here.
| Plant | Type | Light | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boxwood | Shrub | – | Bitter and tough; left alone nearly everywhere |
| Spirea | Shrub | Sun | – |
| Juniper (most) | Shrub | Sun | – |
| Japanese pieris | Shrub | Part shade, acidic soil | Toxic to deer |
| Catmint | Perennial | – | Aromatic |
| Russian sage | Perennial | Full sun, sharp drainage | Aromatic |
| Lavender | Perennial | Full sun, sharp drainage | Tends to rot on wet clay over winter |
| Bee balm | Perennial | – | Aromatic |
| Hellebore | Perennial | Part to full shade | Toxic; flowers in late winter |
| Lamb’s ear | Perennial | – | Fuzzy leaves |
| Ornamental grasses (most) | Grass | Sun | Tough foliage |
| Christmas fern and most ferns | Fern | Shade | Among the safest for a shady woods edge |
| Daffodil | Bulb | – | Toxic; plant where you might plant tulips |
| Allium, snowdrop, grape hyacinth | Bulb | – | Plant where you might plant tulips |
| Barrenwort (epimedium) | Groundcover | Dry shade under trees | – |
| Lamium, sweet woodruff | Groundcover | Shade with more moisture | – |
What deer reliably eat here
The plants deer destroy around here are, inconveniently, some of the most common plants on Main Line properties. Hostas are the clearest case: deer eat them to the ground, often the night before they bloom. Daylilies lose their flower buds just as they color up. Tulips get their buds and leaves taken in spring, which is why a tulip bed beside a woods edge is usually a one-year display.
Among shrubs, arborvitae, yews and evergreen azaleas take the worst of it, and mostly in winter, when they are the greenest thing in the yard. The result is the browse line: a tall arborvitae screen that is full at the top and bare from about five feet down, which is roughly as high as a deer reaches standing.
Plenty of good properties have hostas, yews and arborvitae, and none of that has to come out. It does mean those plants need protecting every winter, and that new plantings should lean the other way.
Common plants on Main Line properties, side by side.
| Usually left alone | Usually eaten |
|---|---|
| Boxwood | Arborvitae, mostly in winter |
| Japanese pieris | Yews, mostly in winter |
| Ferns | Evergreen azaleas, mostly in winter |
| Hellebores | Hostas, eaten to the ground |
| Catmint, Russian sage, lavender | Daylilies, flower buds |
| Daffodils | Tulips, buds and leaves |
| Ornamental grasses | Bigleaf hydrangea, buds and soft tips |
How to plan a bed deer will mostly leave alone
Layer by palatability. Put the most resistant, aromatic plants on the edges deer reach first, along the woods line, the driveway and the open lawn. Keep anything they like close to the house, near lights and foot traffic, where they are less comfortable feeding.
A border of catmint, grasses and Russian sage in front of a few favored plants hides the favorites from easy reach and masks them with scent. Mixing scented plants through a bed works better than planting one large block of a favored species, which reads as a buffet.
Match the plant to the site before matching it to the deer. Lavender and Russian sage want full sun and sharp drainage, and on heavy clay soil lavender tends to rot over a wet winter, so it belongs on a raised, gritty spot or not at all. Ferns, hellebores and pieris belong in part to full shade. A resistant plant in the wrong spot grows weak, and weak growth is exactly what deer go after first.
Protecting new plantings
New plants are the most vulnerable plants on a property. Nursery stock is usually grown with plenty of water and fertilizer, so its leaves are soft and high in nitrogen, which makes even a resistant species more appealing than the same plant after a season in the ground. Deer also have no history with a plant that appeared last week.
For the first season, and the first winter, new shrubs and young trees should be physically protected. Any of these does the job:
- Lightweight deer netting over shrubs, loose enough not to bend branches, and taken off in spring once growth starts.
- Wire cages around young trees.
- Tree guards on trunks, to stop bucks rubbing their antlers in fall.
On established evergreens that deer already favor, the same netting from late fall to early spring is usually the difference between a full screen and a browse line.
Fencing and repellents
Fencing is the only method that actually keeps deer out. Deer can clear a standard six foot fence, so a dedicated deer fence is typically about eight feet tall. Alternatives include two shorter fences set a few feet apart, which deer will not jump because they cannot judge the landing, or a slanted fence.
Tall fences are regulated, so check with the township or borough on height limits and setbacks before planning one, and expect that a front yard is usually off the table.
Repellents work if they are used on a schedule. There are two kinds: odor repellents, often based on putrefied egg or similar, and taste repellents, which make foliage bitter. To keep them working:
- Rotate between the two types through the year, because deer get used to any single product.
- Apply before damage starts rather than after.
- Reapply after heavy rain and as new growth appears.
- Keep going through winter on evergreens, which is when it counts most.