{"id":224833,"date":"2025-10-19T09:41:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T09:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/224833\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T09:41:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T09:41:18","slug":"11-best-deer-resistant-plants-best-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/224833\/","title":{"rendered":"11 Best Deer-Resistant Plants \u2014 Best Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Growing up on the Jersey Shore, I only recall seeing deer<\/a> when driving on roads farther west, with large swaths of open land. Now, in my small suburban town, the animals are everywhere. I\u2019ll often find a whole family in my front yard, munching on my beautiful rose bushes. And though this is frustrating, I\u2019m an animal lover and strictly against hunting of any kind. So, when I learned that adding deer-resistant plants to my yard could naturally keep them away, I was all for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeer are often attracted to yards due to the availability of food, especially during times when natural forage is scarce,\u201d says Bryan Clayton, CEO of GreenPal<\/a>, noting that they primarily feed on plants. With that in mind, keep reading to hear from Clayton and other experts about the best deer-repellent plants.<\/p>\n

RELATED: 7 Plants That Attract Deer to Your Yard, Experts Say<\/a>.<\/p>\n

11 Common Deer-Resistant Plants
\n1. Bridal Wreath Spirea
\n\"Bridalk_samurkas\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Deer have an aversion to plants that are overly fragrant, fuzzy, thorny, or poisonous, explains Alex Kantor, owner at Perfect Plants Nursery<\/a>. The Bridal Wreath Spirea shrub\u2014a low-maintenance plant with tiny white flowers and dark green leaves that change with the seasons to red and orange\u2014checks these first two boxes.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir flowers are both little and fuzzy, which is a deterrent for deer,\u201d Kantor explains. These shrubs also have a strong smell that deer do not like.<\/p>\n

2. Catmint
\n\"purpleShutterstock<\/p>\n

For similar reasons to the Bridal Wreath Spirea, deer steer clear of catmint. This plant has a minty scent and fuzzy purple flowers.<\/p>\n

As a bonus, \u201ccatmint thrives where other plants often struggle,\u201d say the experts<\/a> at North Carolina State University\u2019s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. It\u2019s also drought-tolerant and a good pollinator.<\/p>\n

3. Alliums
\n\"purpleShutterstock<\/p>\n

Allium, commonly known as flowering or ornamental onions, is a plant genus that includes garlic, onions, scallions, and leeks. As you might imagine, they have a strong, repellent odor. But according to an article in Virginia Public Media<\/a>, they also have a sulfur-like taste that helps keep away deer, rabbits, and voles.<\/p>\n

One great choice for your garden is the Millennium allium<\/a>, which produces a \u201cmass of purple blooms\u201d in the fall, as Best Life recently shared.<\/p>\n

RELATED: 12 Plants That Will Keep Snakes Out of Your Yard, Pest Experts Say<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4. Lavender
\n\"Lavendernieriss \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Lavender smells lovely and is a great mosquito repellent<\/a>. It\u2019s also a plant that deer tend to avoid due to a smell and taste that they find unpleasant, according to Clayton.<\/p>\n

Lavender<\/a> is relatively easy to grow and maintain. It\u2019s a perennial (a plant that regrows every spring) that thrives in well-drained soil and full sunlight.<\/p>\n

5. Yarrow
\n\"yarrowShutterstock<\/p>\n

Yarrow is a yellow or white flowering plant that blooms throughout the fall. It\u2019s also adaptable to a range of conditions, as it tolerates partial shade and is drought-tolerant.<\/p>\n

\u201cYarrow has very hairy stems and leaves that deer may try when juicy green shoots first emerge in spring,\u201d explain the pros at Plant Addicts<\/a>. \u201cOnce the stems mature and get hairy, deer are more likely to pass Yarrow right by.\u201d Yarrow also has a pungent taste that\u2019s off-putting to deer.<\/p>\n

6. Scarlet Bee Balm
\n\"ScarletKabar\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

As the name suggests, Scarlet Bee Balm attracts butterflies<\/a>, bees, and hummingbirds. It\u2019s a colorful pollinating perennial native to Georgia.<\/p>\n

Kendall Rae Johnson, certified farmer at aGROWKulture<\/a>, shares that its minty-orange scent repels deer. Therefore, she suggests planting it near other plants that you\u2019re concerned deer might eat.<\/p>\n

RELATED: 5 Plants That Will Keep Bees Out of Your Yard, According to Pest Experts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

7. Cosmos
\n\"CosmosTohuwabohu1976\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Cosmos contains a sap called Cosmosin, which has a taste that is unappealing to deer, according to Johnson.<\/p>\n

While these colorful flowers are often included in wildflower mixes, you can also plant them individually. Just be sure to determine which variety and height works best for your space.<\/p>\n

\u201cPollinators love these full-sun beauties, which have a long growing season, filling gardens with color from midsummer until the first frost in fall,\u201d explains Martha Stewart<\/a> magazine. \u201cCosmos grow tall and full, adding vertical depth to your landscape, and have thick foliage that helps keep weeds at bay.\u201d<\/p>\n

8. Ornamental Grasses
\n\"OrnamentalKathryn Roach\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people don\u2019t know this, but ornamental grasses can discourage deer, not just because they aren\u2019t palatable, but their razor-like edges can be a deterrent,\u201d says Clayton, who adds that he\u2019s had particular success using these plants to deter deer.<\/p>\n

9. Winter Gem Boxwood<\/p>\n

\"BoxwoodYarygin\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking to add some elegance to your yard while also preventing deer from eating your plants, then the Winter Gem boxwood is an excellent choice. This shrub has vibrant green foliage, thrives all year round, and can be found in sizes big and small.<\/p>\n

Plus, deer want nothing to do with it. \u201cWinter Gem boxwood shrubs are deer resistant because all of the plants\u2019 parts are toxic to them,\u201d says Kantor. They are toxic to humans<\/a>, though, so be careful.<\/p>\n

RELATED: 8 Indoor Plants That Keep Bugs Away, According to Experts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

10. Holly
\n\"closeupShutterstock<\/p>\n

Not only will holly plants keep some color in your yard all winter long with their bright red berries, but they\u2019ll also keep deer away due to the spiky texture of their leaves.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost Holly shrubs are deer resistant, with American Holly being the best option for those with hungry deer in their area,\u201d share the experts at Nick\u2019s Garden Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Or, as Best Life recently shared, winterberry holly<\/a> is an especially beautiful shrub during the colder months\u2014and now is a great time to plant it.<\/p>\n

11. Artemisia
\n\"SilverShutterstock<\/p>\n

Artemisia, also known as Mugwort or Wormwood, is a silvery-leafed plant with a fuzzy texture.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuper easy to grow, artemisia thrives in sunny spots with poor soil conditions and has almost no insect or disease problems. These rabbit- and deer-resistant plants also look great in fresh or dried flower arrangements,\u201d notes Costa Farms<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Growing up on the Jersey Shore, I only recall seeing deer when driving on roads farther west, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1313,64,63,13960,191,128,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-224833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-animals","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-garden","12":"tag-home","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}