The Registry of Nature
Habitats
Attracting Wildlife to Your Back
Yard
A Guide to Increasing Wildlife Diversity
and Aesthetic Value Around Your Home
Appendix D. Gardening Around
Deer
When deer are very hungry they will eat almost
anything, but during the growing season they usually have lots of
options. That being the case, they often eat what they like best.
Following is a list of trees, shrubs, perennial flowers, and annual
flowers used by gardeners. They are grouped according to the
relative palatability of these plants to deer.
TREES AND
SHRUBS |
Deer generally prefer to eat: |
Deer sometimes eat: |
Deer generally dislike: |
Apple |
Amur maple |
Barberry |
(Fruit trees in general) |
Azalea |
Buffaloberry |
Basswood (Linden) |
Black cherry |
Currant (Gooseberry) |
Birch |
Boxelder |
Honeysuckle |
Bur oak |
Bush honeysuckle |
Juniper |
Chokecherry |
Cottonwood |
Lilac |
Cotoneaster |
Elm |
Mt. Laurel |
Dogwood |
Forsythia |
Nanking cherry |
English Ivy |
hazelnut |
Nannyberry |
Green ash |
Highbush cranberry |
Ponderosa pine |
Hackberry |
Ironwood |
Potentilla |
Hydrangea |
Mountain ash |
Raspberry |
Larch |
Oak |
Russian olive |
Maple |
Rose |
St. John's wort |
Rhodedendron |
Scotch pine |
Spruce |
Sandberry |
Spirea |
Western yellow pine |
Serviceberry |
Sumac |
Western red cedar |
Siberian crab |
White pine |
Wormwood (Artemisia) |
Viburnum |
Wild plum |
|
Weigla |
Fir |
|
White cedar (Arborvitae) |
|
|
White pine |
|
|
Willows |
|
|
Yews |
|
|
PERENNIALS |
Deer generally prefer to eat: |
Deer generally dislike: |
|
Crocus |
Achillea (Yarrow) |
Goldenrod |
Daylily |
Ajuga |
Joe-Pye weed |
Hawkweed |
Allium |
Lamb's ear |
Hosta |
Anemone |
Lavender |
Hyacinth |
Bittersweet |
Lily-of-the-valley |
Iris |
Bleeding heart |
Lupine |
Lily |
Buttercup |
Monkshood |
Meadow rue |
Clematis |
Pachysandra |
Phlox |
Columbine |
Penstemon |
Rose |
Cinquefoil |
Pennyroyal |
Sedum |
Coneflower |
Peony |
Strawberry |
Coral bell |
Poppy |
Tulip |
Coreopsis |
Primrose |
|
Cransbill |
Ribbongrass |
|
Daffodil |
Rosemary |
|
Daisy |
Sage |
|
Ferns |
Snow-on-the-Mountain |
|
Feverfew |
Speedwell |
|
Flax |
Tansy |
|
Forget-me-not |
Thistle |
|
Gayfeather |
Toadflax |
|
Goatsbeard |
Yucca |
ANNUALS AND
BIENNIALS |
Deer generally prefer to eat: |
Deer generally dislike: |
|
|
Hollyhock |
Alyssum |
Geranium |
Periwinkle |
Impatiens |
Begonia |
Heliotrope |
Polygonum |
Pansy |
Dahlia |
Lobelia |
Primula |
Sunflower |
Dusty miller |
Marigold |
Salvia |
Violet |
Flax |
Mint |
Snapdragon |
|
Forget-me-not |
Morning glory |
Verbena |
|
Four-o'clock |
Mullein |
Zinnia |
|
Foxglove |
Parsley |
|
NOTE: The information provided above was gleaned
from browse survey reports conducted by the North Dakota Game and
Fish Department, a recent article published in Minnesota
Horticulturist (Oh, Deer! Suggestions for coping with Deer in
the Home Landscape, B.R. Jarvis and D.F. Bravero), public
information bulletins produced by the states of Illinois and New
Jersey, New York, and conversations with local nursery
owners.
Previous
Section -- Appendix C. Native Plant Seed Sources and
InformationReturn to Contents Next Section --
Appendix E. Sources of Further Assistance
|