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The Secret to Deterring Deer From Your Landscape

Do you live in an area with a high deer population? If so, you may have noticed that your landscape is a bit too tasty for these curious animals to resist. Before admitting gardening defeat, take a cue from the professionals at landscape design, who know the secrets to deterring deer. Using a combination of these popular remedies for deterring deer, you’ll be well on your way to ridding your land of these four-legged friends.

Top 3 Landscape Design Services for Deterring Deer

  1. Use deer resistant plants.
    Deer tend to prefer bland plants as well as newer, younger growth over more mature growth. If they find the plant to be too aromatic, or the sap or foliage irritating, they’ll shy away from it. But the bad news is if they’re starving, they’ll eat just about anything. Keep in mind, deer are like people at a buffet, each has its own unique palette. Here are a few options that will keep them from munching:

    1. Deer Resistant Shrubs  – If you’re looking for hardy shrubs that are easy to plant and unappetizing to deer, consider:
      1. Northern Bayberry as an aromatic option
      2. Beautybush for flower appeal
      3. Stately Boxwood with evergreen foliage
      4. Andromeda
      5. Viburnum
      6. Spirea
      7. Some types of Laurels
      8. Deer Resistant Trees
      9. Spruce Trees
      10. Hemlock Trees
      11. Pine Trees
      12. Cedar Trees
    2. Deer Resistant Perennials – These perennials are good choices for many gardens:
      1. Japanese Bleeding Heart known as “The Living Valentine”
      2. Catmint smells and looks wonderful
      3. Russian Sage for blooming color in fall
      4. Fern, Lavender and Lamium
      5. Deer Resistant Vines – If you have a smaller yard, you’ll find that landscaping with vines will add vertical color and interest to your property.
        1. Trumpet Vine attracts hummingbirds
        2. American Bittersweet is a fruiting beauty
        3. Japanese Wisteria, a romantic flowering vine
  2. If possible, build deer fencing. You will likely need to work with one of your local landscape design firms for this option. While enclosing your yard with fencing may not be a possibility, you can consider placing deer fencing around your gardens or other specific areas. A black polypropylene mesh fence is the most popular, and usually comes in a variety of heights. Since deer have terrible depth perception and problems with certain colors, they have difficulty distinguishing the top of a black fence. They wind up moving along it, instead of jumping over it, keeping them off your landscape.
  3. Consider using deer repellents.These days, most deer repellant contain natural ingredients, providing an odor that offends the deer. The two common types of repellents are contact repellents, applied directly to plants, and area repellents, applied in areas you want the deer to avoid visiting. If you’re working with one of your local landscape design firms, providing landscaping design services, they can apply the repellent and reapply throughout the year as necessary.

If the local deer population has decided that your landscape is their own personal dinner buffet, don’t worry. You have options. If you’re not using professional landscaping design services, use trial and error to guide you. Depending on your situation, you can use a combination of deer resistant plants, fencing and repellents to persuade them to feast somewhere else. That way, you can start enjoying their beauty from a distance.

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