Hello fellow readers,
There was standing room only for our talk, “Deer-Resistant Plants You May Not Know About,” at the Springfest Garden Show. Thanks to all of you for being there. It was a joy to meet you!
We started our presentation with a rant about the antics we do to keep deer at bay, like decking our gardens with Irish Spring soap, dryer sheets, human hair, and cotton balls drenched in predator pee. Then there’s the homemade recipes with rotten eggs, chili peppers, and other such distasteful things. Or the store bought sprays – some that smell like cloves and others like a dead animal or a bad septic on a hot day. If the foul smells don’t keep you from enjoying your garden, the hanging arsenal of deterrents can surely impede your pleasure! Rather, let’s enjoy beautiful deer-resistant gardens; an herb garden is a great place to start.
Calendula
My colleague Marty Carson, of Three Seasons Garden Designs, shared that ‘deer generally are most uninterested in tasting many types of herbs, including thyme, sage, rosemary, fennel, lavender, oregano, and chives. In addition, herbs are healthful, delicious, and easy to grow.’ She went on to say ‘You might enjoy adding annuals to your herb garden. One of our favorites is calendula, commonly known as pot marigold. Calendula is essentially an herb, with many healing qualities, but it possesses a lovely, brightly colored daisy-like flower as well.’
Marty demonstrated that ‘borage and dill make marvelous garden partners. Borage has fuzzy foliage with a mild cucumber flavor. Its lovely blue flowers will be a wonderfully charming addition to your herb garden, especially when partnered with dill.’
Borage
We shared many other less-known deer-resistant plants and how to place and combine them, and referenced the Rutgers Deer Resistant List as a go-to source. http://njaes.rutgers.edu/deerresistance/
Desperate Measures
Of course, I couldn’t help but share a few desperate measures of deer deterrents learned from others. The best was Liz from Sparta, who admits to using Shoprite bags to cover her plants overnight. She couldn’t send a photo, though, as her husband “wouldn’t allow her” to do it before dark (smile). So, for demonstration, I reenacted her charade on the remains of a blue holly devastated by deer this winter. The bright yellow bags puffed with air gave us all a hard chuckle. Better laugh than cry.
Garden dilemmas? AskMaryStone@gmail.com and your favorite Podcast App.
Three Seasons Springfest Garden Display using Deer-Resistant Plants
Column Updated 11/30/25
Click through for the tribute to my dear friend: Goodbye to Garden Legend, Marty Carson.
Enjoy a Related Podcast Episode with tidbits of a Springfest Talk about Deer Remedies:
