Deer-resistant plants
By: Garden Gate staff
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Discourage deer
You pour time and hard work into your garden, and it shows! Plump buds are ready to add color and lush foliage is leafing out all around the yard — that is, until hungry deer sneak in under the cover of night.
If you have serious trouble with deer in your neighborhood, you probably know it takes a combination of tactics to keep them at bay. Installing a solid fence at least 6 ft. tall, consistently applying scent repellents and planting their least favorite snacks, like the 3 plants ahead, can all be effective.
It is important to note, however, that deer will try just about anything depending on the scarcity of other food sources. So while no plant is totally safe, planting what’s at the bottom of the menu will tempt deer less than a buffet border.
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Sweet Romance lavender Lavandula angustifolia
Lavender’s fragrant foliage is what helps keep deer and rabbits away. The purple spikes of Sweet Romance® begin blooming earlier than other varieties.
Type Perennial
Blooms Fragrant purple flowers from summer to fall
Light Full sun
Soil Well-drained
Size 12 to 18 in. tall and wide
Cold-hardy USDA zones 5 to 8
Heat-tolerant AHS zones 8 to 1
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‘Caesar’s Brother’ Siberian iris Iris sibirica
This tall, upright cultivar will spread over time, forming a clump of color. Plus, its bladelike foliage turns yellow-orange in fall, and seedheads hang on through winter.
Type Rhizome
Blooms Purple in late spring
Light Full sun to part shade
Soil Moist, well-drained
Size 36 to 48 in. tall, 18 to 24 in. wide
Cold-hardy USDA zones 3 to 9
Heat-tolerant AHS zones 9 to 1
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‘Blue Muffin’ arrowwood viburnum Viburnum dentatum
Butterflies love this shrub’s flat clusters of white summer flowers. In late summer, bird-favorite, blue-black berries replace the blooms — ‘Blue Muffin’ has brighter blue berries than other cultivars. For better flower pollination — and the most fruit — plant a second variety, such as Chicago Lustre®, nearby.
Type Shrub
Blooms White in summer
Light Full sun to part shade
Soil Well-drained
Size 3 to 5 ft. tall, 3 to 4 ft. wide
Cold-hardy USDA zones 3 to 8
Heat-tolerant AHS zones 8 to 1
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