Margaret Noonan asked 15 years ago
A new house and new garden – but visited every night by deer. They have eaten a rose bed, which I have now taken up and was wondering if there is such a thing as a deer resistant plant?
1 Answers
Gerry Daly Staff answered 6 years ago
Some trees and shrubs are resistant because they are poisonous or unpalatable, such as yew, rhus, rhododendron and Euphorbia mellifera, but most trees and shrubs are liable to have young shoots nipped off, and roses are sweet to taste.
The only answer is fencing the garden to divert the deer elsewhere. A fence does not have to be very high to divert them, as it is not restraining them, as in a deer farm where fences over two metres may be used. About 1.5metres should do. They can jump this height but generally do not do so unless they need to and usually walk around. It might well be that they have no other route and then might jump it to get to other ground.
