Are deer eating and destroying your landscape plants and flowers that you painstakingly planted and maintained? Well if you live in an area that has a large population of deer then you are not alone. If you want to fix this problem then you may want to use deer resistant plants and flowers that are not palatable to deer.

Many deer are crowded into smaller and smaller habitats by human interference. The loss of habitat here in many areas has led to incredible destruction of forests, therefore creating a huge problem with deer in the residential landscape. Most of us enjoy the beauty of these majestic animals, but when they destroy your landscapes, plants and flowers around your home, it really becomes a nuisance.

Local municipalities may take some action to control deer from destroying landscaping and from being dangerous to motorists. Some municipalities have taken extreme measures to lower the density such as hiring sharp shooters or bow hunters to come in to neighborhoods to cull the herd. Most areas in these places have an annual hunt to thin deer herds. No matter what your opinion is as to whether these actions are right or wrong one thing is for certain we have too many deer in too small of a space.

 If you’re landscaping is being destroyed by deer you may wish to implement your own deer management program. Just like every thing living breathing entity, Deer want food! While deer will eat just about anything if they are hungry, some landscape plants can be quite unpalatable. Some of these plants could very well be named deer resistant plants.

  

Some of these deer resistant plants can be Boxwood, Rose-of-Sharon, Forsythia and Bayberry.  Additional plants that are highly deer resistant plants are Serviceberry, Bottlebrush Buckeye, River Birch, Holly 'Dragon Lady', Spirea and Mahonia. The use of plants that deer find unpalatable can also be useful when incorporated with plants they prefer, thereby preventing the deer from discovering the palatable plants and flowers.

When planting your landscaping or gardens you have to avoid plants that will attract deer such as Yew, Rhododendron, Azaleas, and Burning Bush.

Try using the most deer resistant plants on the perimeter of your landscape beds and surround the more desirable plants and flowers. These landscape plants can be used in a protective perimeter fashion. Also consider plants in the mint family such as Monarda (also known as horse mint) and Lemon Balm which deer despise.

Some other perennials to try to include are Columbine, Lily-of-the-Valley, and Oriental poppy. These plants are well resistant and always use for deer resistant plant gardens.

Other tactics to employ against the White-Tailed Deer are deer fences and deer repellents. Although deer can hop a four foot tall fence with ease, a deer fence will help to discourage deer from browsing in that particular landscape area especially if your neighbors don't have a fence. Deer repellents can be used quite effectively to discourage deer in the landscape, but must be applied frequently.