How to Stop Deer From Eating Your Flowers

How to Stop Deer From Eating Flowers

Three things stop deer from eating flowers, and they work best together. Fill exposed beds with plants deer rarely damage, such as daffodils, peonies, iris and catmint. Put a physical barrier around the plants they love: an 8-foot fence for a whole yard, or a wire cylinder around a single clump. Spray a repellent on anything left unprotected and reapply it about every two weeks. A fence is the most dependable of the three. Plant choice and repellents reduce damage without ending it, since nearly any plant can be browsed and every spray wears off.

Flowers Deer Rarely Eat

Deer tend to avoid plants that are hairy, spiny, tough or strongly aromatic, according to University of New Hampshire Extension. That explains why lamb’s ear, catmint and Russian sage survive in yards where hostas vanish. Iowa State University Extension sorts garden plants into four damage groups, using the same four-step scale as the Rutgers list.

Damage rating	Perennials	Bulbs	Annuals
Rarely damaged	Peony, iris, bleeding heart, foxglove, catmint, Russian sage, lamb’s ear, Lenten rose, lungwort, false indigo	Daffodil, ornamental onion, snowdrops, Siberian squill, winter aconite	Snapdragon, sweet alyssum, larkspur, heliotrope, dusty miller, flowering tobacco
Seldom severely damaged	Yarrow, purple coneflower, black-eyed Susan, beebalm, astilbe, columbine, coralbells, delphinium, speedwell	Hyacinth, grape hyacinth, dahlia, gladiolus	Marigold, zinnia, salvia, lantana, verbena, wax begonia
Occasionally severely damaged	Daylily, phlox, Shasta daisy, mum, showy sedum, perennial geranium	Crocus	Pansy, petunia, impatiens, cosmos, coleus, geranium
Frequently severely damaged	Hosta, hollyhock, Solomon’s seal	Tulip, lily	Sunflower

Rutgers recommends the first two rows for landscapes prone to deer damage and advises planting the last two rows only with added protection such as fencing or repellents. Colorado State University Extension adds lavender and gaillardia to the rarely browsed list.

Treat the ratings as odds. Iowa State’s own caveat is that nearly any plant, including those in the top row, can be browsed. A hungry herd in a snowy winter eats what it normally ignores. For planting ideas built from the top two rows, see low-maintenance perennials, a pollinator garden that blooms spring through fall and the best fall-planted bulbs.

Flowers Deer Eat First

Tulips, lilies and hostas sit in the frequently severely damaged group, which Rutgers describes as often preferred by deer. Daylilies, phlox, pansies, petunias and impatiens are one step down the scale and still get eaten often.

You can keep growing them with some planning. Move them inside a fenced area or into containers on a porch. Swap tulips for daffodils in the open border and keep the tulips where you can cage them. A bed ringed with catmint and lamb’s ear is no barrier to a deer that has already found the hostas behind it, so pair resistant edging with one of the physical methods below.

Fencing That Works

A fence has to be tall enough that deer will not jump it and tight enough at the bottom that they cannot duck under. White-tailed deer can jump as high as 8 feet. The standard deer fence is therefore 8 feet of woven wire, reaching all the way to the ground. Wood, wire mesh and heavy-duty plastic netting are all used, as long as the finished height is the same.

Shorter fences work in three cases that Iowa State and the University of Missouri describe:

• A solid 6-foot privacy fence. Deer are unlikely to jump when they cannot see where they will land.
• A small enclosure. An area smaller than 10 by 10 feet with a 6-foot fence around it is not likely to be hurdled.
• A 6-foot fence built at an outward angle. The slant makes deer clear both height and distance, which they find harder.

For single plants, make a cylinder of wire fencing around the clump. It should stand at least 6 feet tall, or carry a wire lid if the plant is small. A lidded cage over a tulip planting only has to stay in place from the time shoots appear until the petals drop.

Electric fencing is the other route. Iowa State notes that several electrified strands can be set up temporarily or permanently, and that ribbon-style poly tape works particularly well. It suits a cutting garden at the back of a lot better than a front border.

Repellents and How Often to Reapply

Repellents come in two kinds. Contact repellents are sprayed on the plant and make it taste bad. Area repellents sit at the edge of a bed and work by smell. Commercial products are built from dried blood, putrescent egg solids, garlic or predator urine. The home-style area repellents are bar soap and bags of human hair, both of which must be replaced frequently.

Colorado State rates a spray of 20 percent whole eggs and 80 percent water among the most effective repellents. That mix resists weather and needs reapplying in about 30 days. Missouri’s guidance for repellents in general is shorter: they last about two weeks, and rain or heavy dew means spraying again. New growth is the gap most gardeners miss. A tulip shoot that was 2 inches tall when you sprayed is unprotected at 6 inches, so spring-flowering plants need the most frequent passes.

Deer get used to any single product. Alternate between repellents of different types or scents to lengthen the time it takes them to adjust, for example an egg-based spray for a month and a garlic-based one the next.

Scare devices such as motion-activated sprinklers, lights and noise makers give temporary relief, typically a few weeks. Use them to cover a short window, such as the days when tulips are in bud, and rely on fencing and repellents for the long term.

A Plan for the Year

Deer pressure follows the food supply. Iowa State notes that damage is most likely when food is scarce during prolonged snow cover, and the tulips and hostas deer favor are at their most exposed as shoots emerge in spring. A calendar helps:

1. Fall. Plant daffodils, ornamental onions and squill in exposed beds. Cage tulip plantings at the same time you plant them.
2. Winter. Check fences after storms. Snow that drifts against a fence shortens it.
3. Early spring. Start repellent as shoots emerge and repeat about every two weeks, sooner after rain.
4. Summer. Switch to a different repellent, and spray new growth on hostas, daylilies and phlox.

Watch where deer enter, often the side of the yard facing woods or a field. That is where the rarely damaged plants, the tallest fence and the first spray should go.

Quick recap

• Fencing is the most dependable control: 8 feet tall for open fencing, or 6 feet if solid, angled outward, or around an area under 10 by 10 feet.
• Plant from the rarely damaged list: daffodils, ornamental onion, peony, iris, catmint, Russian sage, foxglove, lamb’s ear, snapdragon.
• Protect tulips, lilies and hostas with cages or fencing, since deer damage them frequently.
• Reapply repellents about every two weeks, after rain, and on new growth. A 20 percent egg spray lasts about 30 days.
• Alternate repellents, and treat scare devices as a fix that lasts a few weeks.