Tag Archives: Deer Resistant Plants

Design trends

Outsmarting Deer

Coneflowers (echinacea) are usually safe from deer browsing due to their hairy stems and leaves and bitter taste but not always.

So you’ve planted only “deer resistant” plants but last night your coneflowers were eaten. You’ve been waiting all season to cut some for a bouquet. What else can you do to save your flowers from thirsty deer? Here are some techniques that may help. They are worth a try.

A Facebook friend posts photos taken of her yard with lots of turkeys and deer families. How can you not love a picture of those cute fawns covered with spots?

At this time of year last year’s youngsters are being chased away by their deer mothers. In heavily wooded areas their territory may be only the square mile right around where they were born and since they eat about 5 pounds of food per day which would fill a large garbage bag, your garden is this year’s smorgasbord. Eating mostly semi-woody plants they supplement this with soft foliage and, as we all know, our beloved flowers. They browse, moving from place to place seeking plants that taste good and have a high protein content. Knowing their habits can be your advantage. Don’t let them make a habit of eating in your garden. Employ some of the following techniques before they print out a menu of your plants.

There are many barriers you can use to keep deer out of your garden like mesh fencing, deer netting, chicken wire or fishing line. Two short fences a few feet apart can also keep them out. Frightening devices that hook up to your hose work well, too. But if you can’t fence your area then the following tips may help.

Protect young fruit and nut trees by encircling the trunk with fencing to a height of 6 ft. You can remove it after the tree has grown taller and can be limbed up.

Plant deer resistant plants as well as plants that deter deer. Make sure deer find the entryway to your garden unattractive. Concentrate deer repelling plants here. Highly fragrant plants jam the deers’ predator-alert sensors and make them uneasy. Try planting catmint, chives, lavender, sage, society garlic, thyme or yarrow around your favorite plants that they usually eat and you may have better luck this year.

Jam their senses with repellents like fermented eggs solids, mint, rosemary oil and garlic, You can buy these ready-to-use or in concentrates and are very effective. The idea is that you spray directly on the plants and the surrounding area two weeks in a row and then afterwards monthly. They stay on the plants through the rain but keeping it fresh during the peak spring browsing period and late summer when deer are thirsty is a good idea. Soap bars are effective for small areas for short periods. You would have to use 450 bars per acre for a large area. Deer get used to the smell of hair real quick and so it isn’t effective for very long either. Blood meal and sprays are effective also but can attract predators.

Taste repellents must be sprayed directly on the plants you want to protect and don’t use them on food plants. You can buy hot pepper spray or mix it yourself: 2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce, 1 gal water, 1 tablespoon liquid dish soap. Another spray you can make up yourself: 5 tablespoons cayenne pepper, 1 tablespoon cooking oil, 1 gal water.

My personal list of deer resistant plants that are flourishing in the shade are philodendron selloum, all ferns, liriope, mondo grass, Queen’s Tears hardy bromeliad, aspidistra or cast iron plant, bamboo in containers, podocarpus, carex grass, Japanese maple, fragrant sarcococca, clivia, calla lily, sago palm. douglas iris and hellebore.

There are many deer resistant plants for the sun, too. The main thing is to start using one or several of these ideas now before deer establish their feeding grounds.

Design trends

“Oh Deer” – Part 1

This young buck at Quail Hollow is perfectly happy browsing on the native plants that grow there.

I thought my plants were safe from deer. Because most of my sunny spots are in front, I planted lots of colorful annuals and perennials out there. Then a couple months ago, all my snapdragon flower spikes were eaten overnight. I was stymied. I live in a condominium complex, after all. Then the buds of my agapanthus were severed and the snapdragons for the second time. It was then that my neighbor told me she had captured a young buck on her security camera heading right for my plants.

So I now spray with Squirrel Stopper (I have a squirrel problem, too) as it’s similar to some of the deer repellents with rosemary oil, corn mint oil, putrescent eggs solids and cinnamon oil. I don’t need to spray the zinnias, cosmos, geraniums, petunias or even the large hostas, just the snapdragons. Picky deer, I guess. But are there any other safe plants that deer seem to avoid?

There are native plants that are poisonous for us but only some of them are avoided by deer. It got me thinking. How do deer eat poisonous plants without apparent ill affect?

Deer are browsers. They thrive on a mixed diet. You’ve seen them eat a few roses then saunter over to the abutilon and then on to the daylily flowers. Deer will eat almost anything, even plants with a strong scent like catmint, lavender, or thyme when they are hungry or need water. They can even eat a few bites of various toxic plants.

According to Tom Hanley, a wildlife biologist with the Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, “There seems to be threshold levels for the toxicity of different plants, and as long as deer eat below that threshold, they’re okay.” Plant toxicity varies with the time of year also and flowers may be less toxic than leaves or roots. They just mix it up.

That explains the eating habits of deer but what about us?

Many of us are including native plants in our landscapes to attract wildlife and save water and resources. Here are some common native plants that you should be aware of if you have small children. This list comes from
Borstein, Foss and O’Brian- California Native plants for the Garden.

Coffeeberry- leaves, berries and bark
California buckeye- all parts (poisonous to bees also)
Western azalea- all parts
Elderberry- all parts except ripe berries and fruit
Solanum-all parts
Snowberry-berries
California buttercup- juice of the plant
Berberis- roots and leaves
Prunus ( cherry )- seeds
California poppy- all parts
Lupine (annual)- seeds, fresh leaves and stems.

Mostly though, native plants make great additions to the garden. They tend to be well behaved and are rarely invasive. Birds and butterflies rely on them for food, shelter and nesting. And best of all they are beautiful.

When I’m designing with native plants I find the following plants are fairly safe around deer. They are not perfectly safe at all times of the year but they are usually avoided.

Artemisia also called Ca. sagebrush
Asarum – Wild ginger
Baccharis – Dwf coyote brush
Ceanothus ‘Julia Phelps’
Eriogonum – Ca. buckwheat
Douglas iris
Mimulus auritanicus – Sticky monkey flower
Monardella – Coyote mint
Ribes speciosum – Fuchsia-flowering gooseberry
Salvia

Enjoy your garden. Let the deer browse elsewhere and be aware of plants that may be toxic to children.
Next week I’ll give you some good techniques that help deter deer.

Design trends

Planting California Natives in the Fall

In the California native plant garden at Gamble Garden this coral bells provides a beautiful focal point and the hummingbirds love it also.

When my optometrist was in Palo Alto I used to stop by Gamble Gardens on Waverly Street to see what was in bloom. Just down from Steve Jobs house, this historic garden dating back to 1908 is aa treasure. Over 300 volunteers keep the garden looking beautiful and it’s open to the public for free every day. The California native plant garden is one of my favorite areas. Fall is the perfect time to plant in your garden. Here are some ideas.

By planting from mid-September through mid-November, roots of all plants have a chance to grow during fall and most of the winter without having to supply nourishment to the leafy portion of the plant. Roots of deciduous plants still grow even after plants drop their foliage as long as the ground temperature is above 50 degrees. Cooler day and night temperatures slowly harden off the top of the plant to prepare for the cold days of winter.

Another reason that fall is the “no-fail” planting season is because plants put in the ground in fall need less water to establish. The plants themselves use less water since photosynthesis is slowed by shorter days even if it’s occasionally warm. Evaporation rates slow down also during fall so moisture in the soil lasts longer as well. Sometimes we get lucky with fall and winter rains perfectly spaced so the ground never completely dries out. Unfortunately this winter is predicted to be another La Nina but let’s hope we get more rain than last season.

Plants that thrive in dry, shady spots benefit especially from fall planting as they need established root systems before next years dry season. Dry shade sometimes occurs in places beyond the reach of the hose but also under native oaks. To protect the health of native oaks, it’s a requirement that plants underneath thrive with little or no summer irrigation.

King Edward VII Pink Flowering Currant

Plants of proven success under these conditions include native currants and gooseberry. Red flowering currant is a show stopper capable of controlling erosion. In the spring, the long, flower clusters of this deciduous shrub will dominate your garden. There are many selections to choose from so if the huge white flowers appeal to you ‘White Icicle’ will be beautiful in your landscape. ‘Barrie Coate’ and ‘King Edward VII’ have spectacular deep red flower clusters and ‘’Spring Showers’’ has 8″ long pink ones. Grow in full sun to partial shade. This California native requires little water once established and is a valuable nectar source for hummingbirds.

Some other good California native shrubs for erosion control are western redbud, mountain mahogany, western mock orange, lemonade berry, toyon, snowberry, matilija poppy and western elderberry. Rbes viburnifolium, creeping mahonia, snowberry, ceanothus maritimus and ‘Anchor Bay’s are good groundcover selections.

Pacific Coast Iris ( iris douglasiana )

Smaller natives that put down deep roots are heuchera, iris dougasiana, native grasses, yarrow, coast aster, California fuchsia, wild grape, mimulus, buckwheat, wild rose, sage and salvia.

Bush Poppy

Bush poppy (dendromecon rigid) is another native found right here in our area and needs no irrigation at all once established. Beautiful bright yellow, poppy-like flowers cover the plant in spring. They can be propagated from cuttings taken in summer and are pest and disease free.

Remember when setting plants on a steep slope to arrange them in staggered rows. Make an individual terrace for each plant and create a basin or low spot behind each one (not around the stem) to catch water. Set the crowns of the plants high so they won’t become saturated and rot after watering and make sure mulch does not build up around the stem.