Garden Spaces: Deer? Oh, Dear...Try Herbs

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Gayle Ford

In many parts of the United States, deer feast on every garden they can find, chomping and stomping their way through whole neighborhoods with little regard for aesthetics and no sense of fair play. Some frustrated gardeners give up, concluding their carefully tended beds are merely a smorgasbord for the local animal life.

Herb gardeners have a big advantage, though. A fragrant herb garden is a confusing place for deer, which rely on their sense of smell to warn them of predators. Instead of raiding your herb garden, they’ll wander over to the fruit trees and tulips down the street, so you can appreciate these magnificent creatures from afar.

Natural Selection

Growing the right plants is your first line of defense against deer. While no plant is deer-proof when these animals are hungry, rosemary comes close. Its spiky leaves emit a cloud of fragrance that deer dislike. Other Mediterranean herbs, such as oregano, sage and thyme, have a similar effect.

The plants illustrated in this sunny garden have escaped browsing deer in different regions, but by all means experiment. If you love spring bulbs, tuck in some daffodils, which are more deer-resistant than tulips. Deer also will ignore many native ornamental grasses, which are lovely additions to any herb garden.

Tips and Tricks

Gardening successfully in deer country depends on many other factors, such as weather, the season and even the attitudes of your neighbors. Here in Texas, many people put out “deer corn” in fall and winter, believing they’re helping the poor deer—but they’re not. This lures the animals closer to your garden and makes them dependent on a nutritionally deficient diet. The high-carbohydrate content of corn can cause malnutrition and liver damage, and even can prevent deer from digesting their normal forage of native plants. Deer corn should be used only as bait by hunters during hunting season. Your job is to convince your neighbors that feeding deer is a bad idea; once deer are attracted to a specific area, it’s difficult to keep them from returning.

Also, remember to protect vulnerable young transplants before they become established. You can use a physical barrier such as a wire cage or plant thorny shrubs, such as barberry, at the edge of the garden.

Or, try spraying the garden perimeter with a deer repellant, such as Liquid Fence, Deer Off or Plantskydd.

NEXT PAGE: More tips on how to repel deer from your garden. Also, which plants to use for your personal Deer-B-Gone Garden (poppy is one of these).