sorry to hear that-its frustrating spending all that money every year- I kinda know what you mean. Lost mostly groundcover this year (blue rug junipers). But they didn't touch my blue star junipers or skyrockets. all spruce were safe (3ft to 9ft.) I did use some spray this year on my smaller skyrockets (didn't want to lose them just in case). I had a few boxwoods they didn't touch so I planted some different type this spring to make up for the blue rugs-so far so good. What evergreens did they eat?
thetman

For evergreen,
Pieris, pieris and pieris again.
Not necessary P.floribunda only, but P.japonica as well.
They wouldn't touch Buxus americana for sure, either.

For deciduous,
All kind of spireas (though they are succeptible to rabbits), caryopterises, buddleia, paeonia suffruticosa, cornus kousa, lindera benzoin, forsythia and possibly clethra (I have it in a deers exposed location for 3 years only, no damage so far).
Can't be firm about sambucus and cotinus coggygria, but my neighbor with whom we share deer's 'pathway' grow them successfuly.

Fence, fence, and more fence. I don't have personal experience with that kind of deer problem, but have a local friend who does. She has a monster of a German shepherd and another creature I haven't met, and even with the dogs running loose on her property, the deer will destroy anything they can reach. She can tell when the fence is breached because things start disappearing.

Work out about what you spend on plants every year. How isn't it worth spending a couple of years plant expenses on keeping the plants alive?

It is not possible to fence my entire property altho I am going to bite the bullet and put one along the main pathway. But it goes thru woods and I don't know how they will get posts thru the tree roots. I live in a suburban area and cannot realistically enclose the place.

It's not just the money, tho that has been huge. It is the loss of so much hard work and love of our vandalized garden. We had no problem for 20 years, then all of a sudden....

I have a lot of shade so that further limits things but I will give Pieris a try. I prefer floribunda because it doesn't get lacebug but it is almost impossible to find.

I hope there are more suggestions out there.

Clethra grows wild here so that's another good suggestion for my conditions.

Deer eat Sambucus here and also Cornus kousa. Spruces are almost always left alone. Pieris 'Brouers Beauty' is a cross between P. floribunda and japonica and is easier to find than P. floribunda. Boxwoods of all types should be safe also.

Pieris japonica 'Brower's Beauty' is reputedly not succeptible to lacebugs. Which I could attest to.

I agree with the fence- so far I have put in close to 600ft- and have 900ft more to do. there seems to be no other option relly. I have been forced to plant mainly juniper shrubs-but even some old gold got nibbled on this winter and basically all of the blue rug. Not much variety right now planted but there is no other choice. Planted some PJM roddies this spring and some Mediterranean heather for variety- supposed to be deer resistant- we'll see, I didn't plant that many. Deer seem to be an everywhere lately (and turkeys here in southern MA).
thetman

The deer have browsed heavily on both junipers and PJM rhododendrons here so I won't be planting any more of those.

I had such a bad experience with lacebug years ago that I yanked every Pieris japonica I had, and that was a bunch. I know about Brower's Beauty--just hesitating to trust those P. japonica genes.

What kind of fence are you all using? The "invisible" deer fence or regular wooden fences? I have heard that it helps if they can't see thru the fence--less likely to try to get thru it.

Deer central here. We have a deer fence, but the deer bust through it on occasion and can reak havoc overnight. Over the last few years, I have been replacing many plants the deer love with deer-resistant ones. I will only try to list those that have been deer resistant for me and that I think are hardy in zone 5, but that will only be a guess on my part. You have more deer-resistant evergreen options the further South you go.

Deciduous:

Berberis thunbergii
Callicarpa dichotoma
Calycanthus 'Hartledge Wine'
Chaenomeles speciosa
Clethra alnifolia
Cornus mas
Deutzia gracilis 'Chardonnay Pearls'
Exchorda x macrantha 'The Bride'
Fothergilla major 'Mt Airy'
Hibiscus syriacus
Ilex verticillata 'Sparkleberry' (needs a male pollinator)
Itea virginica 'Henry's Garnet'
Salix purpurea 'Nana'
Spirea bumalda 'Goldflame'
Spirea thunbergii
Spirea x 'Vanhoutti'
Viburnum burkwoodi
Viburnum plicatum var tomentosum 'Mariesi'

Evergreen:

Chamaecyparis pisifera
Juniperus 'Saybrook Gold' (or any Juniper)
Rhododendron 'Roseum Elegans'

Thanks for putting together that list. I can't speak to the deciduous shrubs as so far the deer have concentrated on the evergreens. Here, they eat every single evergreen rhododendron, including R. maximum, R. 'Roseum Elegans', and R. 'PJM'.

They also eat junipers, tho so far they have preferred the taller cultivars to the ground-hugging ones.

BTW, to answer your question about the deer fence... We have a wooden 5-rail fence in front backed with a wire fence. We originally ran an electric wire at deer level and baited it with "deer pops" (small containers that contain an enticing dose of apple juice and an unpleasant surge of voltage), but the deer eventually figured out that they could squeeze through the lower rails or simply jump the electric wire. Frankly, it's amazing what small spaces they can get through, hence the wire. We also had to extend this fence up to 7' and used deer netting for this purpose. We have the same deer netting up around the rest of the property. We have 3.5 acres, so this was no small undertaking (and not inexpensive). We still get breaches now and then and have to repair the fence and reinforce those areas. It's incredible how diabolically cunning the deer can be when they want to get into an enclosure, but how stupid they can be when they want to leave. Some of the damage often occurs if they get in, but then can't remember how to get out.

I do grow things like daylilies and hydrangeas, which the deer cannot keep their snouts off of if they have access to them, so I also spray deer repellants on the favorites. I am making my own homemade deer spray this season to try to save a few pennies.

CULL THE HERD is my mantra.

ginny12 what taller junipers have they been eating- I hope not skyrockets! That's one of my biggest fears is finally getting the all of the fence up and they somehow get in but panic when they can't get out causing huge amount of damage money wise. I guess its spruce and boxwoods forever
thetman

Over the last two years I have been gardening in deer crossing central. I have hedges of holly (many varieties), Pieris (Japanese andromeda )and boxwood that the deer do not eat. Also, they don't touch my bamboo or other ornamental grasses. They also don't touch ferns. Good luck!

Thanks for these suggestions. Yes, I think I am going to have to figure out a way to fence at least part of my property. The trouble is it goes in and out of woods and up hill and down dale. And it will cost a fortune as I think it will have to be wood.

And I do think Pieris will be an important part of my landscape. I am so wary of it because the Japanese species gets awful lacebug here. I'm looking for floribunda and any hybrids. As for holly, the deer devoured mine. Only the blue hollies are really hardy here. And too much shade for boxwood.

On the other hand, a garden buddy here in our Boston suburb had a bear in her yard Easter week. She is (was) a beekeeper. Amazing.

I planted quite a few things. The dear ate my camillas and my dogwood TO THE GROUND and munched on many other things. They ate azaleas and ligustrum(privet), among other things! They tasted my hydrangeas pretty heavily but only lightly browsed my rhodis. They got a bit munchy on my arborvitae, too. :-( We're definitely infested, but I just have to make my yard yuckier than everyone else's, so they'll walk by to someone else's salad bar.

I've been considering quietly finding a bow hunter locally, though!

They didn't touch:
pachysandra
yews
pieris
boxwood
barberry
knockout rose (but it was dormant in winter...)
sand cherry
low junipers
spruce
daylily
lily
daffodil
English ivy
vibernum
burning bush
forsythia (we have more than 30 of these, beent ere fur some 40 years....)
winter jasmine
spirea
buddleia
paeonia suffruticosa (this is probably 20+ years old!)
mint

Remarkable that they left the yews alone. Yews are deer hot fudge sunday and are ALWAYS eaten.

Bear in mind that deer eat differently in winter than in summer. In winter they eat woody plants. In summer, green stuff. In early spring they will browse on newly leafed out woodies.

They hit my camillas real hard any time of the year it seems. Then let them go long enough to re-leaf for the next feeding frenzy. I might try Pieris (Japanese andromeda) to run along the woods edge and my front lawn edge. Any particular variety that might work better anmd provide some nice color. Are they evergreens?

I'm right on the woods edge and it's a hop-skip-and-jump for them to my place.

I planted a few skimmias and azaleas together and the decimated the azaleas but didn't touch the skimmias. I'm getting more skimmias!

They also didn't touch my artemisia (perennial) but did eat all the hostas planted around it. I will be planting more artemisia. It's very aromatic and I've been crumbling the parts that died off over the winter and sprinkling them on things that the deer like. Seems to help.

This has been a useful thread and I thought I'd bump it up. I have been battling the deer with Liquid Fence and it seems to be working.

One difficulty with a thread like this is that deer will eat something in one garden but someone else will report it untouched in theirs. So the more info the better.

They have never touched my mahonias, chelone, barberries, ferns, or any species of bamboo ,,, i have several small palms ( trachycarpus, rapidophyllum ) they ignored as well .. they walk around yuccas and for the summer i put many tropicals into the groud and area and they will not touch them ,, ( oleanders, palms, bromeliads, crotons, euphorbias , plumerias .. )

they have devoured my English Ivy, ate holly, and of course ,,made a nice salad from the day lilies and hostas ..

good luck !!

Well, another year and more deer fest input.
I have a long unfenced garden bed that runs the length of the driveway and sustains nightly visits from the bambi's. I have chosen not to fence it.
Planted and showing no interest in:
Physocarpus opulifolius 'Dart's Gold'
Berberis - rose glow
bearded iris - babies tasted foliage but still growing
lupine
mugo pine
fritillaria
crocosmia
spiraea - many types
daffodils - again babies tasted foliage but going to flower
kolkwitzia
buddliea
baptista
russian sage
ornamental grass - miscanthus & calamagrostis
daphne
peonies
lavendar
yucca
picea abies
trying some annual bulbs this year to see how they do.....
dahlias
cannas
also a few new things.......
caryopteris
euphorbia
Spotted cougar tracks nearby a few days ago, so may not have many deer around for awhile.
I guess we all have to adopt a BIG puddy cat!!!!
Flora

A useful list. I am hoping for shrub suggestions which is why I posted on the shrub forum. But thanks for the ideas, always good to know.

Still looking good for not eating the following:

Holly
Pieris
Skimmia
Buddleia
Bamboo
Trachycarpus (hardy palm)
yucca
Herbs (rosemary, lavender, sage, etc.)
Cephalotaxus (plum yew--not a true yew, which they do eat.
podocarpus
Boxwood
Crape Myrtle
Mugo pine
pachysandra
ferns
bleeding heart
ornamental grasses

Stuff they love to eat--

hosta
camellias
azaleas
Fatsia
Acuba
Photina
Yew
Hydrangea
Euonymous japonica
Dawn Redwood foliage (if low to ground)
roses (stems, leaves, flowers...)
tomatoes (plant included)
hibiscus (tropical and hardy)

For the stuff they love to eat, I discovered that if I planted them in an area that had walls on two sides and plantings on the third, they would not wonder into this area that felt enclosed--even though it really was not at all. Hosta and hydrangea have even not been touched there while they get devoured in another area. Planting strategically helps--it's easier to go to the neighbors'gardens.

Thanks for this list. I guess it just depends. They loved my Blue Princess/Prince hollies. Literally sucked every leaf off three shrubs.

I have been using Liquid Fence with success but would still really be interested in shrubs, especially evergreens, that they don't eat. It's my impression that boxwood and pieris are the only two. Thanks again.

Update on my list. Most is growing well, but the deer have been tasting the Physocarpus opulifolius 'Dart's Gold', so the jury is still out on that one.
Also the deer here are becoming more aggressive and have put one man in the hospital that was out delivering papers and was attacked.
Did someone mention cull?!?

I am surprised there has been only one mention of daffodils. They are so cheery in the spring and no damage (may have been a taste, but questionable). They spread nicely too. We have scads of purple cornflowers which only have a nip here and there. In Michigan, a law was passed to ban deer baiting, so we have had an increase to multiple visits daily often. We use Plant Skydd on the daylily buds and have recently used Liquid Fence. This year we have put individual fences around single shrubs, using box wire. It is cheaper, since spraying a whole tree is expensive. The aged fences do not impede the view badly and allow the trees to grow to the point that we can remove the round of fencing. The Austrian Pines we planted have not been bothered.

No mention of daffodils because this is the Shrubs forum and my question was about *shrubs* that deer don't eat. But thank you for the input.

We live between a state park with no hunting allowed behind us and a wooded area that is undeveloped because it has a Brown Trout stream running through it across the street in front of us. We have deer by the dozens grazing at noon in the rain. Our yard is thoroughfare between the two wooded areas and we have no desire to fence in our yard. The minimum height for a deer fence is at least 8'. I have seen young does hurdle 6' fences with no effort.

As for plants that have worked for us, almost any ornamental grass, a variety of heathers, hollies and blooming fragrant lavender. Many of the more strong spice/perfume plants will usually stay untouched. Rosemary, lavender, thyme and others. Some of the organic repellents main components are a combination of concentrated oils of rosemary and lavender. We use ornamental grasses and lavender as border plantings to discourage foraging. I have even used lavender soaps and used a utility knife to spread shavings. It works but like all repellents need to be applied often.

Two methods that I have heard people have success with as deterrents are fishing line and rough/uneven garden borders. The deer can reach pretty far but they hate rough, uneven surfaces (even though they live in the woods). It is a pleasure for them to have a nice flat, soft surface to stand on when eating. The fishing wire is invisible to them and if placed at the proper height keeps them from strolling into your garden. Changing the height now and then will keep them from noticing what they can do to avoid it.

Ginny, it's some time after your question, but since nobody's touched this issue yet: My sister has lived in the Sierra Nevada in California through several eras of heavy deer overpopulation. The deer would stand and eat her plants as we walked by. You don't say just how heavy the deer problem in your area is, but her experience has shown that when deer are hungry enough they will eat everything. All green they can reach to survive whether they dislike the taste or not. Hopefully the problem in your area of the East will never become quite that bad, but just a week or two now and then, of course, could be a garden-killer.

I still have the issue, Rosie, so thanks for the reply. And it is shrubs I am mainly concerned about.

Deer have not touched pachysandra--not a shrub, I know, but curious nonetheless. I am told they don't eat pieris or boxwood. Can't grow boxwood--too shady. They have eaten every other evergreen, needled and broadleaf, I've got.

Tho close to Boston, I have had moose on three or four occasions. One moose ate about $10,000 worth of evergreens--counting size, age, labor--in one night. I am still sick about it. We were out; the neighbors all took photos and video.

Yet the other day, I visited a well-known garden in rural Vermont. No fence, no spray, no deer or moose. They think it's because there is so much to eat in the woods. I think it's farmers with guns.

Kudos to Deer Stopper. That has been a plant life saver! And it doesn't smell putrid like liquid fence or any of the others.

Did you get any suggestions that would work for WI gardens? I have sun/part shade and hope for something evergreen that is at least 6'. No fence option. Does anyone have any experience with Hemlocks? I guess Junipers are out. Is there a narrow Spruce out there looking to poke a deer in the nose???

Our soil probably isn't suitable for the Pieris.

The deer munch on Hydrangeas, Cornus sericea, nibble on the Viburnums, not too much on the Ilex verticillata...I don't want to even begin listing the perennials. The only thing they don't touch is Boxwood, which are really finicky here. And they grow soooooo slooooowwwwly.

I have experience with hemlocks--have lots of them, including a large and lengthy hedge. It is not a deer favorite as long as there are yews and arborvitae. But then they eat hemlocks quite readily.

I'm talking about Canadian hemlock, Tsuga canadensis, native to eastern North America and a widely grown ornamental.

Whatever gets posted as deer resistant or deer proof is likely to get draw challenges from other posters who find that THEIR deer regularly devour that particular plant. And I'm NOT challenging them on that.--I've had chili peppers devoured (fruit and plant) eaten at times. Maybe it's a question of local deer tastes, time of the year, variety of plants available, density, etc.. who knows. I actually live within a narrow deer crossing. It bridges two different wooded areas and is in regular, and heavy use (especially from autumn through late winter).

Here's what works for me so far:

Boxwood (they hate the smell and so did I--at first)--Have both the common box and my favorite--the Dwarf English.

Hollies (have Japanese, English, Nellie Stevens, Ilex vomitoria 'Yaupon'--name explains why they leave that one alone!, Blue Princess, China Girl...)

Yuccas

Barberry (I hate the thorns so I removed hedges of them from the property when I moved in but the deer likewise hate them!)

Northern Myrtle (Bayberry)

Cephalotaxus (Japanese plum yew)--not hardy under 6 I believe.--This one looks like a true yew but the leaves are longer and more lush looking BUT the deer HATE IT. The true yews that were on the grounds were regularly eaten by deer so I removed all of them.

Cotonester (again, hardiness may be a factor)

HERBS, HERBS and MORE HERBS--they HATE the smell so I put in hedges of ROSEMARY, LAVENDER, BAY LAUREL

Pieris

Cherry Laurel

Skimmia japonica

Rhododendrons (basically left alone--and mine are still low to the ground and easy to munch on.

I know many of these are not hardy under zone 6 or 7. I really like Holly and Boxwoods. 'Winter Gem' is among the hardiest of varieties. Growth rate on the Boxes is decent here though.

Regarding the HEMLOCKS, there is an Island planting of Several Hemlocks and Japanese Holly in the back.--Most have been there for decades. I have not noticed the deer eating the lower branches--even when they were fairly low to the ground--have since pruned lower branches to lighten the grove and be able to walk through it. Also don't see much evidence of rutting damage on these trees. But these are going to be sizable trees. Are you looking for a 'TREE' or more a 'SHRUB'?