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Gardening in Shade

Help!!! Need ideas on shade plants that deer hate FAST

15 years ago

I would really appreciate info on plants that will grow in the shade and be there when I wake up the next day.....Love deer but hate it when they feast on my plants. I have planted things in the past that claimed they would be and my deer loved to eat them to the ground.

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Comments (10)

chezmoose
15 years ago
I've heard that deer don't care for fuzzy leaved plants as much. Have you tried pulmonaria or brunnera? I've had deer eat my hostas but haven't bothered the other plants much.
ajpa
15 years ago
Poisonous plants (dicentra, lily of the valley, foxgloves, etc) and ferns. Try to get hold of a book called Deer-Resistant Landscaping by Neil Soderstrom. It has a list of plants in the back.
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You will see, if you read this entire thread, that there is no such thing as the PERFECT TREE (or plant either, for that matter). All have good points and bad. You need to do adequate research and then decide what you want and what you can live with. Of your list, I can speak to three from personal experience. A Natchez Crape Myrtle would be a nearly ideal size for your home and the amount of space that you have to give it. They, of course, bloom (white) in the summer, have nice fall color, and if pruned and trained properly are at their glorious best in their sculptural leaf-bare selves in the winter. Their bark looks like a giraffe's skin before it peels, and the trunks, as they get larger take on the look of human muscle. Your own organic sculpture. They grow fast (a five gallon plant can easily reach 15 or more feet in three years) and are very drought tolerant once established. On the down side, they require consistent pruning, especially in the first few years, but this is not extremely time consuming. Simply choose three or four (or whatever) trunks that you like and keep limbing them up until the lowest limbs are above your head level. Remove other trunks and suckers that inevitably come up around the base of the tree. If the higher limbs fail to branch at a good height, cut them off ONCE and then remove all but two or three branches that form at the cuts the following year. Do not EVER just amputate limbs, or worse, trunks, because someone tells you the tree will bloom better unless you just like the look of a tree that looks like an upside down witch's broom. Give it some fertilizer to make it bloom, and congratulate yourself all winter on the beautiful structure of your un-maimed tree. (Sorry. I just can't help myself. Crape murder is a personal pet peeve of mine.) Anyway, the other downside of Crape myrtles is the blooms can damage the paint on cars parked below them. On very hot days, the blooms just seem to become one with the paint. (Position the tree away from the driveway. End of problem.) And, they create a fair amount of bloom litter over concrete. Careful positioning can solve this, or just be willing to sweep. River Birches are beautiful, multi-season trees. Their peeling bark is a big plus, and the grace of the trees swaying in the breeze is one big reason they are so popular. They are fast growing, and in this case, they tend to be brittle because of it. Expect alot of limb drop in high winds or ice storms. Although most people think of them as small trees, at least some of them can surprise you and get to be quite large. Be sure you know what you are buying. Also, in very moist soil, they can become invasive. I have planted several Red Maples over the years and have a very hard time getting them to establish. This may be because of my incredibly tight clay. I don't know. Check around with folks in your area before plunking down your hard earned money. Most maples are notorious for having very...
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15'-20', you want essentially a shrub limbed up, not a tree, what is commonly called a "Patio Tree" would be in that size range. "Small" trees are usually considered to be in the 25'-35' range. When you go to a nursery and look at the label of a tree or shrub, and there's a size, that size especially for a tree, is the size after 10 years. Trees keep growing. They are not like humans and stop growing at a certain age. Stay away from showy flowers, if you don't want litter. Ditto for deciduous unless you want it to drop all its leaves in winter. Metrosideros 'Springfire'. Some of the selections of Pittosporum tenuifolium that are smaller than the species. Citrus, if you want to pick the fruit. The Eriobotrya delflexa, Bronze Loquat is a well-behaved patio sized choice. Crepe Myrtles are very attractive and they come in all sorts of sizes, but they do drop their leaves in fall and the flowers while beautiful end up on the ground. Before you make any choice educate yourself. An inappropriate tree can end up costing a lot of money to remove.
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kbcherokee
15 years ago
Try herbs,ornamental grasses, junipers, hyssop,spice bush (lindera benzoin).If the deer are hungry enough they will eat anything.
florrie2
14 years ago
Here's my short list:
Broadleaf evergreens: Pieris, Leucothoe, Nandina, Mahonia. All grow about 5-7 feet tall and are evergreen.

Deciduous shrubs: Spirea, lilac, hydrangea (somewhat nibbled) forsythia (likewise), potentilla.

Perennials: Bleeding heart, ferns, foxglove, brunnera, geranium (the species, not Pelargonium), Jacob's ladder. Anything in the Lamiaceae family. DO NOT plant mint in the dirt, keep it in a pot or you will be sorry!

Annuals: Herbs, alyssum, zinnia, four-o-clock, French marigolds (not the hybrids).

Alas, the deer don't read the same books I read. These plants work in my yard.

good luck!

Florrie

Here is a link that might be useful: Lamiaceae Family
greenbug
14 years ago
Hi Florrie,
I have the same deer problem and have grown alyssums, zinnias and marigolds in the past year which were left untouched by deer.
But I would like to confirm with you if these annuals will do well in shade? I have just created some flowerbeds in heavy shaded areas where grass will not grow, but I thought these planst need sun.
If not, I have some seedlings in the trays and I could plant them in the shade.
I would really appreciate knowing what your experience is as far as these plants and shade.
Thanks!!
linnfromia
14 years ago
To add to ajpa's list of poisonous plants that deer avoid: sweet woodruff (a great groundcover!), aconitum, daffodils.
shpnquen
14 years ago
greenbug, I believe all those annuals require at least 4 hours of sun. They "may" grow & grow decent, but you may not get the flowering you are looking for. I have tried to grow alyssum under an oak tree with NO luck, but it thrives & spreads out in my sunny bed & reseeds itself heavily every year there. I'm pretty sure zinnia are the same, I'm guessing marigolds too, but I'm not a fan of them, so I don't have them to report on. Good luck!
oilpainter
14 years ago
Greenbug:
Alyssum will tolerate some shade but marigolds and zinnias are sun plants and won't do well in the shade
von1
14 years ago
Epimedium love dry shade, grow well in my zone 4,spread gradually, some faster than others. There are different heights also. The flowers are beautiful, but tiny.
Von
geoforce
14 years ago
Having an average of 5-12 deer in my yard every day means I have concentrated on this for several years now. I live right on the edge of a large wildlife preserve where the deer have essentially wiped out ALL of the native wildflowers and groundcover plants. Most of my land is light to medium shade.

Epimediums and Hellebores are a great choice (I grow over 50 species and varieties of Epis and hundreds of Hellebores). Lamium, Brunnera and Pulmonaria are also good. If you plant Lamiastrum use "Herman's Pride" its a bushy one that doesnt spread but has nice foliage and flowers. Dracunculus is fabulous as an accent in my garden. Arum italicum if it isn't an invasive in your area. Stylophorum is a must-have for the yellow in early Spring. I've had fair luck with Trilliums, T. luteum is especially good.

George

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