Hey garden lovers!
Is it my imagination, or are deer everywhere lately? At our former house in NY, they had been known to come right up to our stoop, and we were NOT in a rural area. Unbelievable! At our cabin in Massachusetts, they’re regular vegomatics. Although I do have plenty of hosta there, I have to spray regularly. In White Plains, for whatever reason, they left our hosta alone.
Deer are funny, unpredictable creatures. You and your neighbor may have the same identical plantings, but they might leave their’s alone but use your yard as an all day buffet. The best we can do to protect our landscapes and investment is to try to purchase plants that deer don’t find particularly yummy. Keep in mind that if they’re hungry enough, they’ll eat shoe leather. Young plants are particularly vulnerable, and every planting, no matter how deer resistant, should get sprayed the first year they’re planted. Once established, they should be able to hold their own.
Here are some pictures of shade tolerant/deer resistant plants with brief descriptions. Most images, except where indicated, were sourced from White Flower Farm, a lovely nursery located in Litchfield, Ct. (but you can order on line too). Enjoy!
Ligulara
The Britt-Marie Crawford variety (pictured below), boasts large dark leaves that have a chocolate/maroon/purple color. By late summer,you should see some lovely bright orange flowers. They make a good companion to hostas, but we know hostas are not exactly deer resistant! They are happiest in partial shade/full sun and prefer to be kept moist.
Japanese painted ferns
This lovely fern has grayish green and sometimes deep red ferns. It prefers partial shade and moist soil.
Bleeding Heart
There are many varieties of Bleeding Heart, which gets its name from the heart shape of the flowers. All of the varieties prefer evenly moist soil and little or no direct sun. Love those heart shaped flowers!
Bottle brush buckeye
Looking for a deer resistant shrub? How about one that attracts butterflies and has lovely fall color? Look no further than the Bottle Brush Buckeye! It can grow as high as 8′, making it a good specimen plant as well.
Source
Astilbe
Astilbe’s are a hardy addition to your shade garden. They’re pest-free and can be used in a woodland border or even as ground cover in mass plantings. They prefer to be kept moist though. Drought conditions are a big no-no.
Skip laurel
This is my all-time favorite deer resistant shrub. This is a picture of the side of our former house, and that large shrub on the right is a Skip Laurel. It’s probably about 12′ tall now. If you look to the far left, that’s another Laurel we bought about 3 years ago. And there’s more below. Told you I liked these!
When we bought the Skip Laurel above about 7 years ago, it looked like these…
Hellabore
This plant has it all. It is happy in all kinds of soil, has lovely flowers for three months in early Spring and is about as deer resistant as they come. Rumor has it the white hellabore is best if you want the vegomatics to stay away.
Lilyturf
Lilyturf are happy in practically any light conditions, including dense shade, and will tolerate prolonged dry spells quite well. What more can you ask for? Sign me up.
Wild ginger
I don’t have any Wild Ginger, but I think I’m seriously going to consider getting some. Those in the know say they’re among the greatest foliage plants for shade. They have lovely shaped leaves in beautiful shades of green that can be shiny, textural or even contain striking silvery patterns. They prefer rich soil and like to be kept moist.
Boxwoods
I hesitated to include these in this post simply because I find boxwoods are a bit high maintenance. Well, actually, not really, but they do require yearly trimming unless you want them to get hummungous. They grow fairly rapidly, and can be happy in partial shade or sun. This is a picture of some boxwoods in our former yard that we had for maybe 12 years or so.
Brunnera
Brunnera is happiest in a woodland garden or along a streambed. They grow to about 12″ and about as wide, and from May to June you will see little clusters of blue flowers.
Jack in the pulpit
The picture speaks for itself. This is one unique looking plant which is quite happy in shade.
Sweet woodruff
Sweet woodruff is a lovely ground cover that displays little white flowers in late summer. I have quite a bit of woodruff which is not quite in full bloom yet, so I didn’t take a picture because quite frankly without the flowers they’re non-descript. But I do highly recommend woodruff if you’re in need of ground cover in a shaded area and you’re looking for something compact that produces flowers.
Virginia bluebells
Bluebells are great under deciduous trees or shrubs, but should be planted with ferns or hostas since after June, they tend to go dormant and then everything would look kinda bald otherwise.
Hope this will help make your little corner of the world puurdy :).
Partying At
Amy @ StowandTellU says
I’m taking notes. I see a few of these that might work well in my challenged front yard. Wish me luck 😉
Doreen says
Good morning Amy! Can you send me pics of your front yard? What is the exposure? What kind of issues have you had? I’d love to help you if you’re ready to make things puurdy :).
(Be careful with the hay fern because it IS invasive and is probably better suited to a wooded area.)
We are off to Brimfield soon! (If you don’t know what that is just do a quick search in my search bar.)
Have a great weekend!!