How To Protect Your Garden From Deer And Rabbits

Doug Leier posted on April 22, 2010 08:26 :: 1085 Views

How To Protect Your Garden From Deer And Rabbits

I'll never be mistaken for a master gardener, and it really doesn't bother me. Beyond borrowing the neighbor’s tiller and breaking up the ground each spring, I lose interest in the garden even before the first spuds are planted.

Deer Garden Fence So it comes as no surprise that when a stray rabbit is clipping the greens, I wonder more about whether my son's trapping will produce another grilled cottontail dinner than if we'll have any lettuce or peas left. But I also fully understand the pride many gardeners take in their summer produce, as time is measured in weeks and months rather than hours.

While gardeners toil in the soil in anticipation of garden fresh fare, from the first radish to the last tomato and everything in between, I hear grumblings of the damage caused by deer and other wild garden thieves.

There are ways to minimize these problems. I won’t say cure, or end, however, as dealing with wildlife involves few guarantees. In early spring as you plan your garden, take several factors into account.

First, if your goal is to protect your garden at all costs, an 8-foot-high, completely enclosed, mesh or chicken wire fence is the best deterrent. A less costly alternative is dividing your garden into smaller subplots with four-strand smooth-wire fence. Deer can easily jump over such a barrier, but they’re less likely to take the leap if they’ll wind up in a small enclosure.

Deer Garden Fence The list of homemade or commercial deer repellants is long and includes things like rotten eggs, human hair, soap-on-a-rope, blood meal and many others. Some even suggest planting desirable vegetables such as squash, beans and peas in with food deer dislike.

Keep in mind, deer have plenty of time to investigate your garden, and these methods are seldom completely effective.

Deer don’t just nibble on garden fodder. They eat young trees, flowers and fruit as well. One way to deter deer from eating things around your yard, besides putting up barriers, is to plant varieties that deer do not find desirable.

It's much easier and more efficient to plan as your garden is established and before the first greens emerge, instead of after the deer and other animals set their sights on the fruits of your labor.

The following plant lists are divided into categories based on studies of deer preference to aide in reducing depredation on your trees, bushes and garden. But don't forget, I'm not saying anything other than an exclusionary fence will be strongly effective.

TREES AND SHRUBS
Deer generally prefer to eat:	Deer sometimes eat:	Deer generally dislike:
Apple (Fruit trees in general) Basswood (Linden) Birch Bur oak Chokecherry Cotoneaster Dogwood English Ivy Green ash Hackberry Hydrangea Larch Maple Rhodedendron Sandberry Serviceberry Siberian crab Viburnum Weigla White cedar (Arborvitae) White pine Willows Yews	Amur maple Azalea Black cherry Boxelder Bush honeysuckle Cottonwood Elm Forsythia hazelnut Highbush cranberry Ironwood Mountain ash Oak Rose Scotch pine Spirea Sumac White pine Wild plum Fir	Barberry Buffaloberry Currant (Gooseberry) Honeysuckle Juniper Lilac Mt. Laurel Nanking cherry Nannyberry Ponderosa pine Potentilla Raspberry Russian olive St. John's wort Spruce Western yellow pine Western red cedar Wormwood (Artemisia)

PERENNIALS
Deer generally prefer to eat:	Deer generally dislike:
Crocus Daylily Hawkweed Hosta Hyacinth Iris Lily Meadow rue Phlox Rose Sedum Strawberry Tulip	Achillea (Yarrow) Ajuga Allium Anemone Bittersweet Bleeding heart Buttercup Clematis Columbine Cinquefoil Coneflower Coral bell Coreopsis Cransbill Daffodil Daisy Ferns Feverfew Flax Forget-me-not Gayfeather Goatsbeard	Goldenrod Joe-Pye weed Lamb's ear Lavender Lily-of-the-valley Lupine Monkshood Pachysandra Penstemon Pennyroyal Peony Poppy Primrose Ribbongrass Rosemary Sage Snow-on-the-Mountain Speedwell Tansy Thistle Toadflax Yucca

ANNUALS AND BIENNIALS
Deer generally prefer to eat:	Deer generally dislike:
Hollyhock Impatiens Pansy Sunflower Violet	Alyssum Begonia Dahlia Dusty miller Flax Forget-me-not Four-o'clock Foxglove	Geranium Heliotrope Lobelia Marigold Mint Morning glory Mullein Parsley	Periwinkle Polygonum Primula Salvia Snapdragon Verbena Zinnia