Looking for plants that repel deer, we’ll discuss deterrent herbs and toxic plants that keep them away.

Deer are gentle animals, but they are not loving or kind on your plantation if you have a garden full of their delicacies.

If your garden gets a regular visitation of this macro pest, then you are in big trouble. How can you get them out of your plantation without taking drastic measures like shooting them on sight?

Even if you fence your garden, deer are capable of jumping over fences.

Plants That Repel Deer

But, there is a better and ideal way out; getting rid of deer without poisoning the innocent animal or shooting them on sight.

Some plants will literary send them away because of their strong odors or thorny leaves or bitterness. In other words, you can use the likes of these plants as a border around your vegetable and food crops.

The following are a list of plants that you can use to fence off deer

  1. Bearded Iris

This plant is one of a deer’s deterrent. Bearded Iris has a beautiful fragrance that brings out different colors ranging from black to blue to purple, pink, red, orange, yellow, and even white.

If you love growing flowers with alluring fragrance, then this plant is ideal for you. It will repel deers because deers detest plants with a strong scent. And it will fill your ambiance with sweet smells.

  1. Bee Balm

This is a beneficial herb with striking colors to make your garden beautiful. It comes out in color red, pink, and blue. It also helps to attract pollinators to your plants.

This plant can also be used to send deers away, so you can plant it around your yard or garden to prevent the beautiful pest from bothering your garden.

  1. Catnip

Catnip is a type of catmint; botanically, it is called Nepetacataria. It is famous for being loved by cats. Therefore you have to be careful and ensure no cat is around when you want to plant this crop to ward off deers.

But then, this plant is spitefully hated by deer because of its fragrance.

  1. Columbine

The flowers of this plant are beautiful, blooming in yellow, white, red, blue, pink, and purple color. The columbine is often referred to as the stars of the spring. It is a healthy plant that survives all kinds of weather, no matter how harsh. They also attract pollinators but serve as an unpleasant sight to deers.

You can plant it around your garden to send away the animal.

  1. Delphinium

This plant can serve as a companion plant in keeping the deers away. They have flowers colored in blue, white, pink, and purple.

Delphiniums usually have a short life span for a perennial plant. Their flowers don’t live long, but then, this plant stands like a knight in the shining armor of your garden.

They grow up quickly and rise above most of the other flowers in your garden.

They are not only a sight to behold; they serve as repellents to deers

  1. Dutchman’s Breeches

This plant is also short-lived, whose leaves wither as soon as it is done with flowering. The plant disappears at once and will reappear in the next season.

Deers don’t like this plant nor eat its flower, so you can plant it around your garden along with other deer-resistant plants so that even if it goes out of season, other plants can shield the yard.

  1. Golden Alyssum

This unique plant is known for its striking yellow color. It is popularly called a basket of gold because it brings out a lot of yellow flowers. This flower can add some touch of gold to your garden, making your landscape a beautiful sight to behold

Golden alyssum is also one of the plants that will send the deer away and protect your vegetable and other food crops in the garden

  1. Jack Frost Brunnera

This plant is often called Brunneramacrophylla or the great forget-me-not. Some may call it heartleaf jack frost or large leaf brunnera.

No matter what is called, it is unique because of its blue flowers in spring and silver (frost like) leaves having green veins. It is not just a sight to behold; it will live for a long time, unlike some other plant, it is the farmer’s friend.

Most importantly, deer hate this for being foliage plants.

  1. Jack-in-the-Pulpit

This is a dramatic plant; it is named because of its funny appearance.  Jack has a pulpit that looks like a hood sitting on the plant. And Jack would be that spike that stands with the hood.

This plant is quite funky, plus it repels deer. So this means a  garden full of beautiful plants including the one with dramatic flowers that can deter deer from feeding on your crops

  1. Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantine)

The plant has ears that spread around, thereby making it like a good cover for the other plants. This plant produces dehydrated leaves, and I guess that accounts for why deer turn away from the plant.

It is also a healthy plant that survives all seasons.

  1. Lavender

Lavender is a herb or subshrub that has a pleasant fragrance. This plant repels a wide range of pests including deer. Typically, deer do not like plants with a strong smell, so this makes lavender a deer- repellent plant.

You can plant this around your garden to make a fence that wards the pest off.

  1. Lenten Rose

This beautiful rose comes out in purple, red, yellow, green, blue, lavender, and pink. It blooms in the early spring.

More importantly, it is a deer-resistant perennial plant. Therefore you can plant it around your garden to protect the other plants from being eaten by deer.

  1. Peony

This plant also has a long life span, to the extent that they may outlive you. Since deer detest this plant so much, you can plant it around your garden to send the deer off your space. interestingly, you won’t need to worry about how to plant it the next season or the next year

  1. Rosemary

Rosemary is one of those herbal plants that repel a wide range of pests, whether micro or macro. It has a strong fragrance that irritates almost all kinds of pests, including deer.

Its flower comes out in blue, white, and pink. It gives you a beautiful garden and a pest-free garden as well.

  1. Russian Sage

This plant is one of the plants that have more to offer beyond its beauty. It produces alluring fragrances and grows up to about 5ft, providing enough shade. It is a foliage plant and requires minimal care.

You can also plant this herb to deter deer from entering your plantation.

  1. Salvia

This plant comes out in blue, purple, red and pink colors, which gives you a bright and beautiful garden

This is also known as sage plants. If deer don’t eat bee balm, stay away from rosemary, detest catmint, and other plants like; rosemary and lavender. This is because deer don’t like aromatic herbs and they don’t eat it.

  1. Veronica

This plant comes out beautifully in purplish-blue, pink, and white. This is also a deer- resistant plant that begins flowering in late spring and will not do well without your help. So you have to keep shearing to make its display of blue flowers last longer.

  1. Wall Germander

You can grow this plant in a row to form an edge around your plantation to prevent deer from entering the garden.

Wall germander is also a perennial herb or subshrub that deer detest. Apart from deterring deer, it also welcomes the pollinator into your garden.

  1. Yarrow

This plant is another beautiful herb that has different colors ranging from white, yellow, pink, and red. It is feathery foliage making it enough reason for deer to spite the plant.

Planting yarrow gives you a double advantage; scare the deer away and can be used for medicinal purposes.

Deer will also stay away from ornamental grasses because they have rough textures that may feel as if they are eating wool.

Some of the ornamental grasses they try to avoid are:

  1. Big Twister Rush
  2. Black Mondo
  3. Blue Oat
  4. Blue Paradise Bluestem
  5. Blue Whiskers
  6. Giant Miscanthus
  7. Gold Hakone
  8. Little Miss Bicolor
  9. Purple Flame
  10. Snow Cap

Toxic Plants to Deer

Another set of plants that repel deter are poisonous plants. A deer will not eat such plants because their instinct is very sensitive and can tell if a plant is poisonous.

However, it is better not to plant such because that will be a harsh approach to deterring deer. A bite of some of these plants can alter the normal functioning of deer’s organ

Some of the toxic plants to deer are;

  1. Daffodils
  2. Oriental poppy
  3. Spurges
  4. Bleeding hearts;
  • Aurora bleeding hearts
  • White old-fashion bleeding heart
  • Breathtaking bleeding hearts
  • Bacchanal bleeding hearts
  • Valentine bleeding hearts

Conclusion

Deer relies mainly on their instinct and their sense of smell. So they can sense danger when it is far off, and they can detect a plant they dislike or a plant that is poisonous to them.

Once they smell a plant they detest, they leave immediately searching elsewhere for food.

However, different deer have different tastes, just as humans have different preferences. So you don’t have to be discouraged if one of the plants listed here fails to do the trick with the kind of deer in your area.

Just keep trying different plants till you find the one that works perfectly for your type of deer.

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