Deer are an integral part of Central Europe and welcome from afar. However, those who live close to forests and nature reserves are less than happy when they attack the garden and eat plants. In addition to the visual aspect, this can be expensive. The solution: plant flowers that deer don’t like.
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deer in the garden
The Capreolus capreolus are herbivores. They are known to be very picky about their food. They are constantly on the lookout for special delicacies. In gardens, however, you will find numerous tasty delicacies, such as flowers and herbs. They are also capable of stripping entire gardens bare in a matter of hours. Once deer have discovered a garden to satisfy their appetite, they are also difficult to get rid of. Attempts to decorate gardens with flowers and grow herbs again in the spring usually fail. They keep coming back as if waiting for new delicacies to be prepared for them.
Protection from deer
However, the market offers a number of products to protect against deer invading your home garden. Fences are the classic. Deer also shy away from proximity to dogs. So if you don’t want to get a dog, you can try your luck with special scents. These are to be distributed at regular intervals around the property or the flower beds. However, they don’t always work. Here it is advisable to try several different products if the first attempts are not successful. Another alternative is to stack old wood. Experts suspect that the musty smell keeps them at a distance.
Protection by “unwelcome” flowers
The best protection against deer is to plant flowers in your garden that they don’t like. Even then, they will often stop by once or twice to see if anything tasty has been planted. If this is not the case and they continuously come across plants that are “inedible” for them, they will leave the feeding station permanently as a result.
Flowers against deer damage
- Astern (Aster)
- Astilbe (Astilbe)
- Bartblume (Caryopteris clandonensis)
- Blausternchen (Scilla)
- Blauraute (Perovskia)
- Dahlien (Dahlia)
- Eisenhut (Aconitum)
- Jacobsleiter (Polemonium Azure)
- Catnip (Nepeta cataria)
- Knöterich (Persicaria)
- Kornblume (Centaurea cyanus)
- Crocus
- Lilien (Lilium)
- Maideneye (Coreopsis)
- Malve (Malva sylvestris)
- Poppy (Poppy)
- Nachtkerze (Oenothera biennis)
- Daffodils (Narcissus)
- Phlox (Phlox)
- Rittersporn (Delphinium)
- Schmuckkörbchen (Cosmos bipinnatus)
- Snowdrop (Galanthus)
- Sun hat (Echinacea)
- Perennial Sunflower (Helianthus
- Sterndolden (Astrantia major)
- ornamental onion (Allium)
flowering herbs
Even experts don’t always agree on whether herbs should also be called flowers. The fact is that many herbs flower beautifully and are found in numerous gardens as flowers. Many a garden owner/hobby gardener does not always know that these are kitchen herbs if they are not interested in them. Whether titled flower or herb, the following specimens are ideal for planting in areas frequented by deer and not to their liking.
Herbs against deer feeding
- Savory (Satureja)
- Currykraut (Helichrysum italicum)
- Estragon (Artemisia dracunculus)
- Goldrute (Solidago)
- Kerbel (Anthriscus)
- Garlic Chives (Allium tuberosum)
- Coriander (Coriandrum sativum)
- Lovage (Levisticum officinale)
- Majoran (Origanum majorana)
- Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea)
- Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
- Sage (Salvia officinalis)
- Thymian (Thymus vulgaris)
- Ysop (Hyssopus officinalis)
- Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
