Deer Resistance

So one of the most asked questions I hear from people in areas with deer is ‘what can I plant that the deer won’t eat!”  This is tough for many reasons…deer eat things where they found something edible before (like if they eat your vegetables…and next year you plant poisonous plants there in the same place, they will eat the yew even though they normally wouldn’t)  But I have a list of plants that I grow in my yard that are rarely touched by the deer.  I would consider the deer pressure in our yard to be moderate…some days there are no deer, about once a week a herd of 7 or 10 come through.

My list of deer resistant plant: This is not a comprehensive list…just a list from those plants I grow in my garden and have observed as resistant with moderate deer pressure in St. Louis, Missouri.

Garlic

Potatoes (not sweet potatoes)

Salvia Gregii

Russian sage

False blue indigo

Amsonia hubrichtii

Ornamental grasses

Ferns

Catmint

Lavender

Chives

Basil

Oregano

Thyme

Zucchini

Beautyberry

Forsythia

Artemisia

Viburnum Dilatatum

Daffodils

Iris

Dianthus

Lonicera

Coreopsis tinctoria (but the rabbits love this one!)

marigolds

Ok, so there are also plants that they LOVE to eat…their very favorites in my yard include (these are NOT NOT NOT deer resistant!): Roses, Most vegetables, Ninebark, Hydrangea, Hosta, Daylilies, Tulips, Asters, Smooth sumac, Most of the fruit trees, Hollyhock, Sunflowers