Archive: Around Town

Dan SegalIn a word, probably. The eastern US is arguably where the human/deer interface reaches a climax, and Central NY is arguably the epicenter of that climax. There are places with higher human population, but not too many places offer the brazen broad-daylight encounters we have here in the Finger Lakes, with standing herds who lazily look up when you come home at the end of the day before getting back to their browsing. There’s a bit of Walt Disney in it, with their tameness and playful sauntering, right there among us in such close proximity. But it’s not a fairy tale…it’s what we have to deal with in our gardens.

So when customers visit the nursery and ask if the deer will eat something, it’s nice when I can honestly say “No”, which is pretty rare but of course, there are plants they don’t eat. In some cases it may be the plants we disregard for being common—boxwood, lilac, peonies. And of course there’s always someone who can say their deer eat the ‘deer proof’ plants. But as a rule, common plants are common because they perform reliably in landscapes. Forty years ago that meant surviving transplant or being generally adapted to our climate. Today, performing reliably usually includes some measure of deer resistance.

When planting in areas of deer pressure, consider a few different approaches.

1) Use plants you regularly see un-browsed, or co-existing reasonably well with deer browse. This includes all ornamental grasses, boxwood, spruce, spiraea, some of the hydrangeas, peonies, lilacs, hemlock, milkweeds, many plants in the mint family, etc.

2) Try a few different types of critter-proofing. This can include simple chicken-wire and post cages for individual choice plants, or protecting small groups of plants. Also try surrounding some of the more at-risk plants with those not at risk (above). Finally, you may want to use some of the myriad commercial products that claim to repel deer. I don’t endorse many of these but often if you’re vigilant, a few different things may work well together.

3) Think about planting aggressive or suckering shrubs that grow fast and send up multiple shoots when browsed. Aggressive doesn’t have to mean spreading; it can just refer to plants that send up new shoots fast enough to co-exist with deer browse. Hazelnut might be a good example, or chokeberry. The deer will work on them but the plants fight back.

I don’t claim to be able to solve the deer/garden problem, and I don’t want to make it sound simple. Deer are the single biggest obstacle for gardeners and nurseries alike.

Where Do the Natives Fit In?

One common misconception about native plants is that they’re deer resistant. Not true, but I wish it were. Many native plants, however, have co-evolved to tolerate deer browse, just as in other parts of the world plants evolve with their own local grazing pressures. Elderberry (deer resistant if not deer proof) is a great example of a suckering but non-invasive native shrub that won’t suffer at all from the occasional snacking by deer. The combination of being relatively deer resistant, plus being able to re-sprout vigorously from the crown after being cut or browsed, allows elderberry to grow fuller and more bushy after disturbance. I’m not saying deer browse is a good thing, but in this case it won’t hurt.

In fact most of our native shrubs, and many the world over, tend to sprout from the crown and become multi-stemmed with age. Being a woody plant with more than one trunk, or stem, is basically the definition of “shrub”. So don’t be afraid to plant shrubs with deer. Avoid those most favored by deer—the ones they seem to home in on with super duper deer sense (Oakleaf hydrangea is a good example—one of my all-time favorites and unfortunately, one of theirs too…).

Think Grasses! And pay attention to what they eat but don’t kill.

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