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!