Here in the Chilterns and in lots of rural areas, deer wandering around our gardens and browsing on whatever they fancy can be a bit of a challenge. My garden backs on to farmland so the ‘all you can eat buffet’ is open pretty much all year round. I love seeing them and personally don’t mind a teensy bit of nibbling, but it can be frustrating to see all those bulbs you planted in the Autumn razed to the ground in a single morning, just as they’re poking their heads up.
In my experience, early Spring is the worst time as there’s little for them to eat in the wild and lots of fresh greens springing up in our garden. I’ve given up growing Tulips (which they love) and even early Camassia heads have been known to disappear. A sure sign of deer is a leaf that is flat at the top, as if the tip has just been nipped straight off.
But there are some tactics which can help. Deer will generally steer clear of plants which have felted leaves (soft and furry), most things that are scented (herbs like Rosemary or Sage) and pretty much all the ornamental grasses. They’re also great at avoiding things which they know are poisonous such as the lovely early leaves of Aconitum napellus. And as much as they love Bluebells and the aforementioned Tulips, they steer clear of Daffodils (also poisonous) and Alliums (too onion-y!).
Another good tactic is to plant some perennials that are a bit late to come into leaf. Geranium ‘Rozanne’ rarely gets nibbled in my garden as it doesn’t really appear until May when there’s lots elsewhere for them to eat. There are also lots of tough old plants which might look terribly nibbled in March but will have bounced back by May (looking at you Acanthus).
It’s worth noting that if deer are really hungry they will eat most things! But just be patient and know that most things will grow back again (except those Tulips…)
Here’s my top 10 list of plants that are easy to grow and are as deer resistant as it’s possible to be:
Nepeta racemosa ‘Walker’s Low’ - all of the Catmints are brilliant at coping with deer, they like neither the texture or the taste and if they do get nibbled a bit will soon recover
Digitalis species - So many different varieties to try, some more perennial than others. Furry leaves (and poisonous in large quantities)
Helleborus x hybridus - What’s not to love about Hellebores, beautiful flowers when nothing much else is out, great foliage in summer and they love our Chilterns clay
Aquilegia vulgaris - Despite being in leaf right now (late Feb), these seem not to get nibbled in my garden. A great plant for bridging that Spring gap when your Tulips could have been out :-)
Sarcococca confusa - Beautiful evergreen winter shrub with fragrant flowers
Erigeron karvinskianus - the lovely Mexican fleabane, gorgeous daisy like flowers for months on end and pretty much impervious to deer.
Philadelphus ‘Belle Etoile’ - one of my favourite deciduous shrubs. Fragrant flowers in Spring and a lovely zingy green foliage. A plant that also benefits from being late into leaf.
Euphorbia - there’s a Euphorbia for every situation and they are always brilliant garden plants. Mostly evergreen and providing some much needed Spring colour and structure to our gardens. My favourites include Euphorbia x martinii and Euphorbia characias.
Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’ - also known as Salvia yangii. All of the Salvias have scented leaves which are off-putting to deer so worth a try. This is probably the most deer resistant of all, with highly scented slightly sticky felted leaves. A great plant for really sunny dry spots.
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ - such a great late summer plant with the flower heads lasting well into winter. Fleshy leaves make this plant less appetising.