Gardening With Deer
In the Garden with Andrew
Andrew Bunting. Photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.
About 20 years ago, the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College started to see plantings destroyed by deer. Today, I would guess most homes and gardens in the borough have experienced browsing deer. Many of you have deer devastating your plantings. I live at the end of Vassar Avenue near a couple wooded areas, and the deer pressure is constant.
The ultimate solution to protecting your garden from deer is to fence them out. But for many homeowners, this is not an option. Some spray treatments are effective in warding them off. Tonight, I visited my friend Janet Chrzan in Rose Valley, who gardens on five acres where a constant stream of four-legged visitors enjoy a vegetarian smorgasbord. She likes a spray called Deer Out. I have used Liquid Fence, and several local professionals swear by Deer Scram.
As more deer have begun browsing in my front yard, I have experimented with plants said to be “deer proof.” It is important to note the difference between “deer resistant” — plants deer might not always eat — and “deer proof” — plants they rarely eat.
A deer on Vassar Avenue. Photo: Andrew Bunting
Deer leave most ornamental grasses and ferns unscathed. I know from personal experience that deer find the ornamental grass Molinia caerulea ‘Skyracer’ and the Hakone grass Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ unappetizing. Ornamental ferns like Athyrium ‘Ghost’, the autumn fern Dryopteris erythrosora, and the lady fern Athyrium felix-femina all fare well.
A handful of shrubs have ironclad resistance. Our native spicebush, Lindera benzoin, is one of the few shrubs in our woods that deer avoid. This spicebush has some Asian relatives with fantastic yellow spring flowers and exceptional fall color which do well too, including Lindera obtusiloba and L. salicifolia var. glauca. Three broadleaved evergreens are also good, including Florida native Illicium floridanum as well as a great evergreen for dry shade, Daphniphyllum macropodum, and all the boxwoods.
Hydrangeas are browsed to varying degrees. The traditional lacecap and mophead types, Hydrangea macrophylla, are the most susceptible to deer. Those with slightly “fuzzy” leaves, like the oakleaf hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia, and the panicle or pee gee hydrangea, Hydrangea paniculata, are somewhat less attractive. But none is resistant.
Fortunately, a host of perennials have good resistance. The many species, selections, hybrids, and cultivars of hellebore, Helleborus, are great for dry shade. Also peonies, Paeonia; goat’s beard, Aruncus; lily-of-the-valley, Convallaria majalis; and thread-leaf blue star, Amsonia hubrichtii. I have recently noticed that the bold, golden-foliaged Aralia cordata ‘Sun King’ also goes uneaten.
Gardening with deer requires constant adaptation. The amount of deer pressure in my own garden ebbs and flows. Sometimes plants that seemed to be truly deer resistant suddenly are no longer. I had always heard that daffodils, Narcissus, were bulletproof, but this spring, half of mine were chewed down. Nonetheless I still regard daffodils as a good bulb for deer-heavy areas, along with snowdrops, Galanthus; snowflakes, Leucojum; and Siberian squills, Scilla siberica.
You may love tulips, but so do the deer!
Reader Questions:
Catherine C. asks, “Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to find a listing of bushes and plantings favored in the 1920s and 1930s?”
I don’t know a reference work specific to that era, but “The Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs” by John G. Hillier and “Manual of Woody Landscape Plants” by Michael Dirr often list the year a plant was introduced.
Tips:
By now many of you have planted your annuals or tropical plants like cannas, bananas, and elephant ears. With the warmer temperatures and ample rain and humidity we’ve had, these plants will really take off. To get the most luxuriant growth and flowers, I would suggest starting to fertilize with a soluble fertilizer applied with a watering can. The easiest way is to use an applicator that can be screwed on to your hose. Look for mixes that have a 20-20-20 concentration (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium).
Send your gardening questions to editor@swarthmorean.com.
Andrew Bunting is vice president of public horticulture at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and vice president of the Swarthmore Horticultural Society.
