Use this handy list to help you choose plants that deer usually don’t find
appetizing in the landscape
Keep in mind: No plant is absolutely guaranteed to be deer proof! If deer are hungry enough, they’ll eat anything — even plants they don’t like — especially in the winter when food sources are scarce. The plants below are not usually a deer’s top choice.
Bulbs
Allium
Daffodils
Garlic
Iris
Onions
Herbs
Marjoram
Mints
Oregano
Thyme
Perennials
Astilbe
Apache Plume
Basket of Gold
Bleeding Heart
Chocolate Flower
Clematis
Coneflower
Creeping Phlox
Daylilies
Dianthus
Delphinium
Euphorbia
Flax
Foxglove
Globe Thistle
Golden Banner
Goldenrod
Honeysuckle
Lamb’s Ear
Lavender
Lenten Rose
Liatris
Lily of the Valley
Mexican Hat Coneflower
Penstemon
Peony
Poker Plant
Poppies
Prairie Zinnia
Prickly Pear
Purple Prairie Clover
Russian Sage
Salvia
Sedum
Shasta Daisy
Soapworts
Snowdrops
Snow-in-Summer
Virginia Creeper
Western White Clematis
Yarrows
Yucca
Shrubs
Alpine Currant
Austrian Copper Rose
Big Western Sage
Boulder Raspberry
Chokecherry
Common Hackberry
Common Juniper
Creeping Mahonia
Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany
Euonymus
Fernbush
Fragrant Sumac
Golden Currant
Hancock Coralberry
Leadplant
Lilacs
Mountain Ninebark
Nanking Cherry
Oregon Grape Holly
Persian Yellow Rose
Potentilla
Pyracantha
Quince
Rabbitbrush
Red Twig Dogwood
Rose of Sharon
Santolina
Silver Buffaloberry
Snowberry
Spirea
Trees
Colorado Spruce
Concolor Fir
Douglas Fir
Gambel’s Oak
Honeylocust
Lodgepole Pine
Pinyon Pine
Rocky Mountain Maple
Make sure you’re not planting a buffet of deer favorites in your landscape! Deer show a particular preference for narrow-leafed evergreens, especially arborvitae and fir. They also love tender, green plants like hostas, daylilies, and English ivy. You might also want to employ some other strategies in addition to deer-resistant plant choices.