How to Keep Deer from Eating Your Flowers

It's the nightmare that gardeners hate to see when they wake up in the morning. You find deer or evidence that deer had been invading your garden and you finding very little left. What is a gardener to do when deer are invading your garden and keeping you from having something beautiful in your yard? The simple remedy is to plant flowers, shrubs and trees that deer will not enjoy eating.

What Deer Like in Your Garden
Most experts agree that growing certain plants will almost guarantee that deer will be swarming your garden and indulging themselves. Roses and azaleas as well as daylilies, hostas, sedum, and heucheras are sure to attract deer in droves. Indian hawthorn is also a delicious meal for most deer.

What Deer Will Not Like in Your Garden
The most common way people try to keep deer out of their garden is to buy deterrents such as fences and repellents. Unfortunately, those are very expensive ways to keep your garden intact. We know what will attract deer to your garden; let's look at what you should plant that deer will not want to eat.

There is no such thing as a deer-proof plant or shrub. If a deer is desperate, enough they will eat just about anything. The plants, shrubs, and trees you should look at will be more deer tolerant than deer proof. Many of these plants will take a beating, but will pop right back and give your garden a spectacular look.

Deer tend to stay away from plants with oily, aromatic foliage. These would include lavender, thyme, rosemary, and basil. The good news is that you can start an herb garden and not worry about deer eating it away. Planting shrubs and trees that have a fragrant bloom such as magnolia, sweet olive and gardenias, will certainly keep deer away. Some other great flowers and shrubs to plant in your garden are angelonias, cleomes, daffodils, alliums, Spanish bluebells, lantanas, petunias, and ornamental grasses.

If you are looking for a great low spreading, perennial that tolerates the heat and is drought resistant, try the heliotrope. This wonderful shrub will produce lavender flowers from the spring to the fall.