Alliums tend to be left alone even though they are quite edible. Some of them are very decorative. Narcissi, iris, colchicums are all poisonous and likely will not be tasted a second time, not by those pests. Those little .177 copper colored bulbs will also decrease the chipmunk problem... It does take special equipment to plant them properly, and a bit of practice. If you use repellants, follow directions for frequency of application and get several different types to rotate, since the pests can and will develop a tolerance to them all. One trick that oldtimers have used effectively to keep raccoons out of the sweet corn is to sprinkle human urine around the border of the planting and make sure to renew it after any rain.

okay, shoot. i was hoping the 'diagram' would work but it did not. it got rid of all the spaces I used, so please ignore it. I forgot to add (and i do not know how to edit these posts) What else could I add for some real structure? Something with branches would be nice. NO ROSES, though! We have tons of rose bushes all over, and I don't want to deal with any more beetles.

I tried to create a privacy fence about ten or so years ago with Arborvitae (not sure of the cultivar or if it matters), it was not long before the deer ate them. Again, deer tastes can be regional and it also depends on the severity of the weather. Not a conifer expert but many of them do seem to be eaten by deer. I replaced Yews with Cephalotaxus (Japanese plum yews) and they will even occasional munch on them, unless it's rabbits. I eventually resolved my living property fences on one side with an allee of Southern Magnolias on the west side, east side with Cherry Laurel (Schip/Skip) and deciduous smoke bush, and the south side with Holly (Blue Prince/Princess), Nellie Stevens, Japanese, Chinese) and boxwoods. I have NEVER seen them touch boxwoods, ever. I have noticed them occasionally munching on the softer blue hollies, and Japanese Holly in a bad winter, EVEN the odd magnolia leaf in deep snow. They don't go near either the Nellie Stevens or the even more prickly, Chinese Holly. Cherry Laurels, are never touched, I think it's the cyanide, LOL. Other plants that I may be used as borders that deer tend never to bother with (in my personal experience) include, rhododendrons, bamboos (use the clumping ones, not the runners unless you are prepared to live in a bamboo forest), and Osmanthus heterophyllus 'goshiki', which is a very colorful, prickly, hardy, broadleaf evergreen. P.S., You won't find barberry on my list, I HATE them and ripped out all the ones the prior owners had planted to outwit the deer.

Hi ValyGirl, If you have Bishop's Weed, a/k/a Snow-on-the-Mountain, in there, that stuff is EXTREMELY invasive and will wind up taking over the entire area. The comment in my "most used" perennial "picture" book, has this comment by the description of Aegopodium! "If you are moving away from neighbors that you can't stand, plant this on the property line just before you go. You can rest assured you will have gotten even for every wrong, no matter how great." If you've put it in fairly recently, you may want to reconsider your decision to grow it before it becomes well established. It is extremely difficult to eradicate when it starts to spread. Two of the things you already have, Geraniums and snow-in-summer are listed on my list of deer resistant plants and will probably work for you--depending on your deer! No plant is "deer proof," and what they will or won't eat depends on the time of the year and stage of growth, the availability of other food, and the deer themselves! A couple more short groundcover things on my list are Ajuga and Lamium maculatum, both are sun or shade and both should do well with the light you've described--and both are controllable! Galium, sweet woodruff is another one that should do well in your light, but it too can become invasive after 2 or 3 years--but nothing like Aegopodium! Linked below is the Rutgers "deer resistance" list. It's the best one I've ever found, and you can vary your parameters when looking for things, and the plants are rated by "degree" of "resistance!" The things I've listed are all on either the "perennials" list, or the "groundcovers" list, so be sure you check all the different permutations so you don't miss something! I don't know what you mean by valerian. That's a common name used for at least two different things that I know of, and both of those are at least 3' tall, so I kind of doubt that you have either of those! Neither of them (Valeriana officinalis and Centranthus ruber) are listed on the Rutgers list. Check out their list and see if you can find something you really like--but if you decide to leave the Aegopodium in there, know that in a few years it will completely take over anything else you have planted there and the other things will "struggle" at best, and die at worst. Hope you wind up with some things you really like, Skybird Here is a link that might be useful: Landscape Plants Rated by Deer Resistance