Deer Resistant Plants

This is only a partial list and is not a guarantee that deer will not eat these plants. Deer, if hungry, will eat many plants and we are finding that they are learning to eat plants they would have ignored in the past. This list can act as a guide toward plants that are least likely to suffer deer damage.

• Trees

  Maples (seldom)
  Honey Locust
  Hawthorn
  Birch
  Oak
  Blue Spruce
  Hemlock
  Mugo Pine
  Bristlecone Pine
  Serviceberry (seldom)
  Spruce
  White Pine (seldom)
  Star Magnolia (seldom)
  Katsura
  Kousa Dogwood (seldom)
  Ginkgo
  Stewartia (seldom)

• Shrubs

  Witch Hazel (seldom)
  Barberry
  Lilac
  Spirea
  Juniper
  Red Osier Dogwood
  Currant
  Gooseberry
  Elderberry
  Potentilla
  Forsythia (seldom)
  Privet (seldom)
  Mock orange
  Smokebush (seldom)
  Viburnum
  PJM Rhododendron (seldom)
  Microbiota
  Rugosa Roses (seldom)
  Daphne
  Deciduous holly

• Vines

  Clematis
  Honeysuckle
  Grape (seldom)

• Perennial

  Actaea (Bugbane)
  Ajuga (Bugleweed)
  Anenome (Wind Flower)
  Aquilegia (Columbine)
  Astilbe (False Goat’s Beard)
  Campanula (Bell Flowers)
  Coreopsis (Tickseed)
  Dianthus
  Dicentra (Bleeding Heart)
  Echinacea (Coneflower)
  Eupatorium (Joe Pye Weed)
  Geranium (Crane’s Bill)
  Heliopsis (Oxeye Sunflower)
  Hellebore
  Iberis (Candytuft)
  Iris
  Lavender
  Liatrus (Gayfeather)
  Lupine
  Monarda (Bee Balm)
  Nepeta (Catmint)
  Rudbeckia (Black Eyed Susan)