Aconitum, Ricinus communis(Castor bean), Verbena bonariensis (not poisonous, but deer resistant) and many more, but you have to provide zone and sun/shade information.

I'm not sure that approach will work. Animals seem to have an intrinsic knowledge of what's poisonous and what's not - otherwise they'd all be dead! There are lots of poisonous plants and we all grow some in our yards whether we like it or not. Chances are you'll kill a domestic animal before you kill a wild one. Fencing works the best.

thank you ego45 -- I'm in CA zone 8, which only takes into account how cold we get. So I should tell you that we get very, very hot in the summer -- 100 in July and August.

Nancyd, it's not my intention to poison any animal. I want pretty plants (to make a pretty cottage style garden) that the critters will likely stay away from. I have found it impossible to fence out the voles -- or if you know of a way, please share your design with me -- my e-mail = jxa44@yahoo.com. Lots of poisonous plants are pretty -- irises come to mind. I just want to pick your collective brains to help me brainstorm my next year's plantings.

I want a pretty garden that doesn't look like I'm at war with nature. Thus, my hoped for solution is to plant plants that the animals will likely stay away from.

Again, thanx for the suggestions, and please, keep them coming!

Read the article below. I came across it not too long ago. Has some interesting ideas. Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Managing Rabbits and Voles

Maybe this link will help. Maureen

Here is a link that might be useful: deer resistant plant seeds

Thank you Nancy for your article. I have been trying to attract raptors, and your article confirms that I've been going about it the right way. But it sounds like my cottage garden style will be/could be vole heaven :-(

I really, really don't want to trap, kill or in any way harm the animals living here. I really just want to encourage them to go eat their meals else where.

The deer and I have almost come to a truce -- no deer list works for these deer. They love all the things reading materials say they shouldn't (grrrrrr). They even eat the iris and poppies! But by buying Australian and S. African plants, I seem to have curbed their appetite -- at least for now ;-) (And I suppose it doesn't help me that we live on a deer trail.)

I will at some point put up a fence around the property. But right now the price is prohibitive -- $80K at last check.

So I appreciate your suggestions. I will compile a list of the plants you suggest and then pick those that I think will be me the "cottage-ie" (is that a word?) look i crave.

jxa44, voles do their damage underground, and I know how frustrating they can be, as I am locked in deadly combat with them, lol. I've tried two things this past year that seem to have helped.

First, I tried a product called MoleMax. It is a castor-based repellent. You sprinkle it on the ground and the moles/voles are supposed to move out. The directions say that you may see increased mole/vole activity at first as the critters pack up and move away, and this did happen to me. However, since then, while I still see some holes, I haven't lost any more plants.

Secondly, I started planting all new plants with a very generous handful of crushed oyster shells. I read that since the shells are sharp, it discourages voles from digging near the plant, and therefore also from eating its roots. Not only do I plant like this now, but before I put my shredded leaves down as mulch this winter (which of course is an open invitation to voles) I plan on spreading a layer of oyster shells on top of the ground. I've picked up about 10 50-pound bags so far (only about $7 each) and I'm ready!

I can't help with the deer, as I don't have much personal experience with them, but a friend of mine has had good luck with a product called DeerOff. She was skeptical because she's tried other products which didn't work for her, but this year she tried DeerOff and was quite happy with it. It is expensive, and needs to be applied at least twice a season, I believe, but we could really see the difference in her garden this year. She thought it was well worth the money. I know everyone has their own favorite product, and what works for one doesn't always work for another, but just thought I'd pass this along.

Not that I have either, but a dog will help with the deer and a cat with the voles. My neighbor's cat is constantly sitting on a big boulder in the bed I have the most vole damage in, and either that cat is a horrible hunter or I just have a huge vole population, because until this year I always had voles, cat or no cat. But I guess it helps somewhat to have a cat in the area for voles.

Good luck in your battle!
:)
Dee

diggerdee,

Thank you *so much* for your response. I had a conversation just this morning with my husband about Molexit. we wondered if it really worked. So it's great to know that it helps you. I had forgotten about oyster shells as a deterrent. I think that's a *great* idea! Since I live in a rural area, I just called my local feed store and ordered two 50 lb sacks! Whoo-hoo! Luv, luv, luv your suggestions!

joyce

Foxgloves and monkshood are two beautiful, but poisonous plants.

I have had better luck with garlic against moles (I don't get voles here) than castor oil based products. Pinetree sells slow-release garlic "spikes" that really scare the moles away -- after I've used them once, then any time I see a new outbreak, I just stuff a couple of peeled cloves of garlic in the tunnels.

gdionelli,

I had to laugh when I saw your suggestions -- my spring garden last year was almost exclusively foxgloves! (It was the only plants that I knew the deer wouldn't touch :-D) I didn't know about monkshood though, so I'm adding them to my "pretty poison" list.

I agree about the garlic. I've been making a "tea" of sorts for my potted plants, so that they take up the garlic taste from the "tea" that I feed them. The deer don't seem to want to eat them now. I'll try garlic for the voles as well -- what is the name of your garlic product?

Thanx, and please keep the suggestions coming.

joyce

I don't know much about your zone, but highly deer resistant plants that grow in my zone and south include pulmonaria; hellebores; geranium maccrorhizum and the G. hybrids called 'Biokovo', 'Karmina'; Lavender; Perovskia (russian sage); Aconitums, Epimediums; Agastaches; Penstemons; Stachys byzantinum; Nepetas; Calminthas; Achilleas. This is not a complete list, but all I can think of at the moment.

laceyvail,

thank you for your suggestions -- especially the tip on the geraniums. The deer eat geraniums in my garden like candy. I do have several salvias, agastaches, lavender and catmint. I appreciate your suggestions.

Geraniums other than the G. maccrorhizum and their hybrids are very attractive to deer, but the ones I mentioned have a strong leaf odor (it's very appealing, I think) and deer leave it alone.

Other deer resistant plants are Liriope and all grasses.

My sister lives in a heavily populated deer area. She swears by marigolds and uses them as a border edging. Her deer, anyway, hate marigolds. I think some other critters do also.

Joyce, here's the info for the garlic product I get from Pinetree (www.superseeds.com):

H458. GOPHER & MOLE REPELLENTS Pkg. of 12
These 3" probes are fully organic with active repelling ingredients of garlic and soybean oil. Just remove the rubber stopper and drop into the gopher or mole tunnel. Long lasting, once the rubber stopper is removed, the garlic odor will be evident in the tunnel for 10-12 months. If the rubber stopper is not removed, it has a long shelf life of 1 or more years. Safe with 100% organic formulation, the plastic tubes will biodegrade in about 24 months. $7.95

I don't have voles, but it seems that whatever deer don't like, rabbits do. Since it pretty much disappears, I've used chicken wire cages to protect dianthus, pansies, and baby's breath from the rabbits before I get out to start my "Liquid Fence" program. That has worked well for me with both deer and rabbits and I've gotten to enjoy my Oriental and Asiatic lilies, phlox, platycodon, etc.; even the arbor vitae they chewed into hour glass shapes recovered. So far, nothing has ever bothered my tall bearded or Siberian iris, daylilies, nepeta, Veronica, echinacia or Rudebeckia, but if critters are hungry enough, they'll go for many of the plants they're traditionally not supposed to like - so the list of safe things is shrinking. How about sedum? Does anyone know if wildlife eats those?

gdionelli,

Thank you sooo much for the URL. This is a new nusery to me, and has many things on my "want" list.

duluthinbloomz4,

my deer (though not starving by a long shot) eat sedum like candy. I finally this season (after two seasons of trying everything to save them), said "uncle", pulled them and tossed them in the compost pile :-(

My deer (thankfully) so far won't eat:

nepeta, blanket flowers, coreopsis, peonies, irises (sometimes), euphorbia, datura, digitalis, Agastache, daffodils, breadseed poppies, butterfly bush, brugmansia and hellebores.

You'll notice that many of the plants on my list are toxic but pretty