outdoors

P LA N TIN G S

DEER-RESISTANT

PERENNIALS &

SHRUBS

Thorny, hairy, and strongly

scented plants tend to be

unpalatable to deer. Others,

apparently, just don’t taste

good. Here’s a sampling.

SUN PERENNIALS

Aster, catmint, coneflower,

creeping phlox, gloriosa daisy,

hellebore, lamb’s ears,

Pennisetum, Penstemon,

Potentilla,

rosemary, St. John’s

wort, sage, thyme, yarrow

SHADE PERENNIALS

Astilbe, columbine, bleeding

heart, ferns, lily-of-the-valley

SHRUBS AND TREES

Acacia, bamboo, barberry,

bottlebrush, boxwood,

butterfly bush,

Cotoneaster,

heavenly bamboo, Japanese

maple, lilac, magnolia, oleander,

Podocarpus,

rugosa rose,

smoke tree, spirea, sumac,

tea tree, viburnum, yucca

VINES

Bougainvillea, jasmine,

Japanese honeysuckle,

morning glory, potato vine,

wisteria ®

O TH ER D EER -CO N TR O L

STRA TEG IES

Deer fencing works, but it

isn’t suitable everywhere—certainly

not in suburbia. Installing two parallel

5-foot fences about 5 feet apart, and

planting shrubs in between them,

is effective and a more attractive

alternative than an 8-foot deer fence.

Several repellents do a

good job of preventing deer browsing.

It’s expensive to blanket a property

with them, so use them to treat plants

that deer are particularly fond of.

Our faithful friends are

outstanding at keeping deer away.

112 MAY 2009 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS

PHOTOS: (LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY) BILL HOLT; (ROSE) MATTHEW BENSON; (LAVENDER) LAURIE BLACK; (ASTILBE) TRIA GIOVAN; (YARROW) TIM MURPHY; (IRIS) HIMEISEN PHOTOGRAPHY