Deer damage the garden, but they also provide magical moments
There are days when I consider fencing off my so-called “deer proof garden” to completely protect the landscape from deer damage.
And then I wake up in the morning to a sight like this mother deer with her two little spotted fawns.
There’s something magical about having magnificent wild creatures wandering around my property that makes me willing to compromise on the garden.
So I’ll continue modifying my gardening practices, and try to take a philosophical approach to the deer damage – all so that I can enjoy magic moments like the one pictured here.
Osteospermum (African Daisy or Cape Daisy) is deer resistant
One of the things I most look forward to in late Spring is getting my hanging baskets planted up. Of course, with my deer population I have to think about what annual flowers deer don’t eat.
The good news
First, the good news: there are some annual flowers that deer don’t eat. Anything in the daisy family will be fine. A good choice is osteospermum (African daisy), which is pictured here. Other deer-proof annuals include marigolds, mimulus (commonly known as Monkey Flower), ageratum, calenduala, dusty miller, poppies, black-eyed susan, and nicotiana (flowering tobacco).
All herbs are deer proof
All herbs are fine, and lavender, sage and thyme make lovely additions to hanging baskets. Sage has many different varieties – just look for the latin name ’salvia’ in the plant name and you know that you’ve got a sage. For planting in hanging baskets, be sure to get the dwarf variety of plants such as sage and nicotiana that come in different heights.
Geraniums are borderline. Depending on the year, sometimes my geraniums make it through, other times they don’t. the stronger scented geraniums are safest, as deer don’t like a strong herbal smell.
The bad news
Next, the bad news: deer do eat many, many annual flowers.
Hanging basket flowers that deer love to eat include pretty much everthing that isn’t listed above as deer-safe. In particular, deer love to eat the hanging basket favorites lobelia, petunias, allyssum, snapdragon, and begonia.
Preventative measures
The good thing about hanging baskets is by definition, they hang. You can have anything in your hanging baskets if you hang them high enough that the deer can’t reach them. But be aware that deer have been known to stand on their hind legs to reach tasty morsels!
Another preventative measure is to spray your hanging basket flowers with something that is unpalatable to deer. Common sprays include cayenne pepper sprays and PlantSkyd.
A big disadvantage of sprays is that they wash off with water. So if your hanging baskets are in a place where they get rained on, you’ll have to reapply the spray after every rain. This may or may not be an issue for you, depending on how often you get rain in your area. And if your hanging baskets are under cover – such as on a porch or under the eaves – you may not need to reapply the spray as often.
As far as PlantSkyd goes – I absolutely detest the smell. Honestly, it smells like an abbatoir and nothing would make me spray that on my plants.
Japanese Painted Fern
Ferns are a good choice for a deer proof garden. I grow about 15 varieties of hardy outdoor ferns and the deer seldom touch them. My favorite fern is the Japanese Painted Fern (pictured here) which has beautiful silver and burgandy coloring.
Ferns thrive in moist shady conditions. A mulch such as well-rotted leaves or cedar chips under and around your ferns will help keep the moisture in the soil. Ferns will also grow in dry shade but will not be as lush.
Here is a list of ferns that are reliably deer proof in the landscape.
| Common Name |
Latin Name |
| Christmas Fern |
Polystichum arcostichoides |
| Cinnamon Fern |
Osmunda cinnamomea |
| Hayscented Fern |
Dennstaedtia punctilobula |
| Holly Fern |
Cyrtomium falcatum |
| Japanese Painted Fern |
Athyrium goeringianum (nipponicum) |
| New York Fern |
Thelyptens noveboracensis |
| Ostrich Fern |
Matteuccia struthiopteris |
| Royal Fern |
Osmunda regalis |
| Sensitive Fern |
Onoclea sensibilis |
| Wood Fern |
Dryopteris marginalis |
