Best Deer Repellents: How to Deal with Deer in the Garden

Okay, let’s be real. There is nothing more frustrating than planting beautiful plants, only to have
deer come into your yard and gnaw on them! So, today I’m sharing all my list of the best deer repellents (and yes some are crazy!) and how to keep deer from eating your plants as well as including deer resistant plants into your garden!

First off, I just have to be honest with you that there is no such thing as completely deer resistant
plants, but there are definitely plants that deer stay away from more than others!

What Plants Do Deer Love?

Deer love certain textures and kinds of plants. They love anything that has big, lush blooms
because they usually are sweet and filled with water. Hydrangeas, hostas, roses, and daylilies
fall into this category. Deer also love narrow-leafed evergreens, shrubs, and firs. In more recent
studies deer are tending to prefer fertilized plants over non-fertilized plants.

What Plants Do Deer Not Love?

There are certain textures and scents that deer tend to stay away from, thank goodness! Deer
stay away from plants with strong scents: sages, ornamental salvias, bee balm, flowering herbs,
and lavenders. They are deterred by things with fuzzy foliage, whether bristly or soft. These
include lamb’s ear, begonias, heliotrope, yarrow, poppies, and vervain to name a few.

Plants with prickly spines on them are a repellant like globe thistle, Cardoon, and sea hollies. Deer avoid and usually do not go near plants with a poisonous sap like daffodils, ranunculus, irises, elephant ears, false indigo, poppies, helleborus, and peonies.

Tips for Keeping Deer Away from Plants

Sometimes we just must make it more difficult for deer to get to our plants. This includes
fencing, essential oil-based sprays, human hair, and other natural remedies. Here are some of the best starter deer repellents!

Fencing

The only way to 100% keep deer out is by fencing. For it to be effective, it needs to be at least 8
feet tall. If a deer cannot see through the fence, they are less likely to attempt to jump so solid
fencing tends to work better than wire. If this is out of your budget, woven wire is usually the
most recommended material for fencing. I’ve read that some gardeners assemble a border of
large boulders that deer are unable to navigate through. If you can swing it, I think this would
look awesome!

Pruning

Make it tougher for deer to get what they want by pruning lower tree branches. They can’t eat
what they can’t access!

Interplanting

If you are just starting out and designing your garden, use this method of choosing your plants to
keep the deer away. It’s called interplanting and is the strategy of planting plants deer like to eat
among, or barricaded by, plants that they stay away from, to deter them from the area all
together. An example would be planting peonies and lavender at a border edge and roses and
hydrangeas behind them. Flowering thyme is a great ground cover to surround your beloved and
precious favorite plants deer love. The fragrance will stop them in their tracks—we hope!

Feeding Station

I know it sounds bizarre but hear me out! If you set up a feeding station at the edge of your
property, the deer will venture over there for food rather than your plants. You can plant things
you don’t necessarily love (for me, it’s hostas) and just set up an all you can eat buffet. This will
hopefully keep them satiated enough to keep them away from the plants you do love to grow!

Best Deer Repellants

Sometimes you might need to invest in commercial grade deer repellants. These usually have a
bad/bitter taste that deer avoid. This is not a one-time fix as they need to be reapplied to your
plants consistently throughout the year, especially after a rain. Here are a few ideas that have
kept the deer at bay in the past. (Insert your fav repellant here)

Best Natural Deer Repellent Remedies

Making your own deer repellant is easy and I must say, it has worked wonders for us. What you
need to remember is that for it to be effective, you will need to apply it weekly, especially if it
rains. There are many recipes out there but here are three I like. The egg-based repellants seem to
be the most effective. The milk helps the mixture to adhere to the plants. It’s a good idea to
switch it up so the deer don’t decide to get used to the same one. Warning! They are smelly!! But
that’s why they work. By the way, these “drinks” work well to ward off rabbits, groundhogs,
skunks and other critters too!

Combine all ingredients, using a blender if necessary to liquify. Strain into a spray bottle and
use liberally. You can even spray these mixtures on fruit. Reapply after a rain.

Deer Repellant Stinky

• 1 egg, whisked
• ½ cup of milk
• 1 tablespoon of Ivory dish soap
• 1 gallon of water

Deer Repellant Spicy

• 3 eggs, whisked together
• 3 crushed garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoons cayenne
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3 cups water

Deer Repellant Fiery

• 2 tablespoons of Tabasco sauce
• One gallon of water

So, you have it! Three different repellants to manage the deer. Please let me know which ones
worked for you!

Transistor Radio

A little noise anyone? Put a transistor radio in your garden and keep it on! When you remember,
change the station. The noise keeps the deer away. Crazy, I know!

Hair

Another natural deer resistant remedy is to use hair! You can use dog or human hair, but all you
do is sprinkle hair clippings around the garden. You can usually go to a local hair salon and pick
up clippings for free! This is the odd deer repellent idea that I was talking about at the beginning!

Ivory Soap

Shavings of Ivory soap scattered on the soil around the garden have been known to deter deer
from the area because of its super strong scent. Some people swear by Irish Spring soap!
Now, that we talked about what we can do to resist the deer let’s dive into deer resistant plants
that you can plant to help keep the deer away!

Best Deer Repellent Plants

When all else fails, plant and enjoy what the deer don’t. Here are some ideas for a
deer resistant garden! These are the best deer repellent plants!

Cut Flowers to Grow to Deter Deer

Flowers	Zones	Height & Sun	Bloom Time	Notes
Ranunculus & Persian buttercup	8-10	1-2 feet    Full sun	May-June	Ranunculus need full sun and need to be planted in well-drained soil. These plants love cool spring weather. Always deadhead to encourage additional blooms. These will go dormant during summer.
Narcissus and Daffodil	3-9	6-30 inches    Full sun to part shade	March-April	These are so deer resistant and are the perfect flower after a cold winter. They come in a range of colors which look gorgeous when clumped together. These contain poisonous alkaloids which is why the deer resist them.    Both flowers come from bulbs, so be sure to plant in the fall. You will want to water the bulbs well, mulch, and keep them moist until the first freeze
Peony/ Paeonia officinalis	3-8	2.5-3 feet   Full sun to part shade	May	Peonies are the queen of spring so it’s extra exciting that they make the list of deer resistant cut flowers! They are actually pretty low maintenance. I go way into detail in my Peony Grow Guide if you’re interested in learning more!
Echinacea	4-9	Up to 4 feet tall depending on variety   Full to partial sun	Depending on the variety, blooms can be pink, purple, magenta, white, yellow. Choose several to make a statement!	Easy to grow, few pests, and prolific, what’s not to love about Echinacea? Deer are repelled by the hairy stems and its height makes it an excellent layering plant. Echinacea’s medicinal properties have been cultivated for centuries showing it’s here to stay!
Rudbeckia	4-9	2-3 feet   Full sun to partial shade	Late spring to early fall	Also known as Black-Eyed Susan, this flower produces yellow petals with dark centers giving it a dramatic appearance. The leaves have a sandpaper texture making it undesirable to deer.

Landscape Plants to Grow to Deter Deer

Plant	Zones	Height & Sun	Bloom Time	Notes
Caladium Angel wings	9-10	1-2.5 feet  Part shade to full shade	Annual	I love Caladium because it makes the perfect border for your flower beds and you can use it all year long! It helps protect anything in your flower beds because the deer don’t like it. Best planted in the shade.
Agastache Anise Hyssop	5-9	2-4 feet  Full Sun	June- September	Agastache loves the sun in the summer, and I love that it blooms pretty much all summer into the fall. Deer, and even rabbits, don’t love this plant because of its foul taste, but the hummingbirds love it, which of course Luca loves pointing out to me every time they come near our Agastache.
Astilbe Hybrid astilbe	4-8	1-4 feet Lightly shaded		Astilbe have a fernlike texture which means deer stay away from these plants! A lot of people refer to these as “Rough as Nails” and if you touched one you would totally know why! I love how low maintenance these are and how they thrive in the sun!
Salvia pratensis Meadow Sage	4 to 8	1-3 feet Full sun	May to September	If your kids are all about butterflies, you must plant some Meadow Sage in your yard! Bees and butterflies both love these beautiful flowers. As a bonus these are some of the easiest plants to grow! So, for all of you who say you kill everything, plant some Sage Meadow! It is totally drought tolerant. At the end of every season cut it back to promote new growth!
Nepeta (Catmint)	4-8	10-24 inches Full sun/afternoon shade	Early summer through fall	Also known as catmint, the gray-green scented leaves are undesirable to deer. This perennial herb boasts spiked flowers in purple, white, or pink and grows quickly. An easy addition for a border!
Herbs lavender, sage, thyme, chives, tarragon, mint rosemary, oregano, parsley	Most herbs grow well in zones 3-9. Rosemary’s range is around 8-11	2 feet Full sun and partial shade	Summer and winter in warmer climates	Herbs are great to plant here and there, for culinary purposes and as a deer repellant. Make them part of your landscape plan. Rosemary and lavender are true survivors and will continue to grow larger as they age. The other herbs will need frequent pruning or dry them for future seasonings.
Grasses	Zone varies by type			Grasses are perfect for filling large spaces. I love grasses because they grow so quickly and add depth to any yard. Some of my favorite deer resistant grasses are Fountain grass, Hakone grass, Japanese sweet flag, Morrow’s sedge, and Switch grass.
Ferns	Zone varies by type	18-24 inches		Ferns are one of my favorite deer resistant plants to grow! There are so many different varieties to choose from you can’t really go wrong! Some of the most deer resistant are the Autumn fer, Christmas fern, Cinnamon Fern, Japanese painted fern, and the Ostrich fern. No matter which fern you choose, it will add instant beauty to your yard!
Boxwood Buxus	4 to 9	2-10 ft Semi shade		Boxwoods are heavenly scented which deer don’t like. These are a little tricky when they are new, but once they start growing, they are pretty resistant! When you begin planting them, you want the top of the root ball at the soil level. When it comes to watering, water deeply and keep them moist until established. Cut the damaged growth each spring for fuller and healthier plants.
Hydrangea quercifolia Oak Leaf Hydrangea	5 to 9	6 to 10 ft  Sun and shade	May to July	Oak Leaf Hydrangeas are another good border plant! I love putting these around the house and patio. These are so easy to grow and love rich moist soil and sun as well as shade. They can be planted just about everywhere!
Spirea Japanese spirea	4 to 6	1 to 6 ft Sunny to light shade	Summer	Deer do not like the taste of Spirea, so they just move on by! This shrub is dense and has lots of twig growth. They vary in color and bloom in the summer, mostly with pink flowers. You will want to plant Spirea in the sun or a little bit of shade and leave lots of room in between, at least 2 feet! Once these shrubs start growing then you can sheer off the old growth to encourage the new.

Read this post on how to grow a cut flower garden for tips for getting started with these flowers!

I hope you found my advice on deer resistant plants helpful! I always love a gorgeous yard and these plants help me have it! Of course, I love things that aren’t deer resistant as well and that’s why I use natural deer resistant remedies like the best deer repellents included in this post!