Deer-Resistant Edibles (usually)
I had an email this week from a lady who had purchased the plans for my Critter-Resistant Vegetable Garden, but realized that it wouldn't be installed in time to protect this seasons fruit and vegetables. That got me thinking as like some other gardeners, I have incorporated a few deer-resistant edibles such as rhubarb into my regular landscaping for their ornamental value in the past, so maybe I could offer some additional suggestions to help her this year?
Knowing that many of you also battle with deer in your garden I decided to share those ideas here – with the disclaimer that I have not tried all of these myself, so I would love to hear your experience, good or bad. Do share by adding a comment below so others can benefit too.
General Principles
Deer tend to avoid those plants with strong fragrance, bitter taste, or prickly/hairy textures (yes, I know they eat roses – but in fairness they eat the flowers, not the thorny stems!) They also don't dig…more about that later.
Edibles rarely damaged
Rhubarb is a wonderful addition to the landscape with its bold foliage – and much cheaper than ornamental Rheum!
Asparagus
Root vegetables e.g. carrots BUT they may eat the tops…..which means of course the carrots won't grow…
Onions, leeks, garlic
Cucumber
Eggplant
Globe artichokes
Hot peppers
Rhubarb
Tomatoes
Herbs
Chives, dill, fennel, lavender, lemon balm, mint, parsley, rosemary, sage, tarragon, thyme
Edibles occasionally damaged (take care to protect young shoots)
Squash can be tempting to hungry deer
Bok Choy
Brussels sprouts (clearly intelligent deer)
Melons
Okra
Potatoes (the leaves)
Radish
Rutabagas
Squash
Herbs
Basil, cilantro
Deer Caviar
I grow beans inside my fenced vegetable garden
That's right – don't even think about it…
Apples
Beans
Beets
Berries (most) inc. strawberries
Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage
Carrot (tops)
Chard
Kohlrabi
Lettuce
Peas
Pears
Plums
Spinach
Corn
Turnip (tops)
TIP:
Spanning a wide path, a series of metal archways create a sturdy structure against which apple trees are trained at RHS Harlow Carr – this could work for deer if they are out of their reach
Try growing apples on an overhead arch, out of their reach. I do that with roses.
Tired of the Battle/ Guessing Game?
Read my blog post about my personal war of the parsnips and learn more about our critter-resistant vegetable garden design. Spoiler alert ; it even works for wallabies…
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We're completely overrun with deer on the Steamboat Island Peninsula, north of Olympia. They will eat everything in the onion family, so that you can't even find the bulbs underground. They also eat the whole tomato plant (but spit out the tomato fruit–ruined with one bite in each!) So it depends on how heavy your deer pressure is whether you can get away with edibles. We've had to put deer fencing around the whole veg plot, but twice they've broken down the fencing and eaten everything except the sage…ugh.