Get it growing
When you gaze upon your garden, you might see many things. Perhaps you delight in the bright colors of your flowers, the lush foliage of other plants. Maybe your eye is drawn to the delicate butterflies and buzzing bees that come to visit.
Deer, on the other hand, see a garden differently. It’s one big kitchen for these herbivores — full of delicious, leafy snacks.
Gardening in rural Louisiana — and even suburban and urban neighborhoods bordering wooded areas — brings unique challenges, and deer are one of them.
It’s hard to dislike deer. They’re usually gentle, shy creatures. But no one appreciates having the fruits of their gardening labor munched on, either.
Jessie Hoover knows this dilemma all too well. As an LSU AgCenter horticulture agent based in the hills and woods of the Feliciana parishes, Hoover regularly gets questions from local gardeners about how to deter hungry deer.
You can, of course, enclose your garden with fencing. This is an effective way to keep deer out, Hoover said — but it will keep you out, too. Having to open a gate every time you need to tend your garden can be a pain, plus the fence will shroud your beautiful plants from easy view.
Some gardeners try to spook deer with motion- activated sprinklers and lights. There are repellant sprays on the market, too.
Hoover suggests starting with a simpler strategy: Growing plants that deer don’t enjoy eating.
“Try to choose plants that have a strong smell or possibly a fuzzy leaf or a prickly leaf or even a waxy, thick, coated leaf,” Hoover said. “Those are all plants that deer tend to stay away from.”
The leaves of lantana, a beloved flowering perennial, have a velvety feel and a distinct scent — neither of which deer like. Anise (Illicium spp.), an evergreen shrub whose leaves smell like licorice, is another good option.
You can use deerresistant plants to protect the rest of your garden.
“One of the things I like to do is to plant foxgloves in front of my desirable plants that deer like,” Hoover said.
Foxgloves are toxic to deer, so the animals instinctively avoid them. Society garlic, a pungent plant that produces pink-topurple flowers in the spring and summer, also works well as a shield.
Just remember one thing.
“No plant is deer proof,” Hoover said. “If deer are hungry enough, they will eat any of your plants.”
Foxgloves, which deer usually don’t eat, can serve as a shield that protects other plants in the garden. (Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter)
