Native Plants Rarely Damaged by Deer

Best Bets: Plants for Particular Uses

Knowing how susceptible a plant is to deer browsing will help you mitigate deer damage in your landscape. Deer generally avoid ferns, grasses, and sedges. They are also often warded off by plants with thorns, and prickly or scented leaves. However, a plant’s desirability to deer depends not just on palatability, but on location (e.g., near a wooded area or water source) and stressors that may affect food supply (e.g., temperature extremes, rainfall patterns, flooding, snow cover). Deer overpopulation, habit, and age also determine what deer eat. Under the right circumstances, deer will eat almost anything if they are hungry enough and their preferred foods are scarce.

In addition to recommending Tried & True native plants that deer tend to avoid, we have listed ten additional resources regarding deer-resistant plants as well as information on how to deal with deer in your garden.

Ferns | Grasses, Sedges & Rushes | Ground Covers | Perennials | Shrubs | Trees | Vines
MGNV Resources | Resources | How to Use the Fact Sheets

MGNV Resources

Additional Resources

• Deer-Tolerant Ornamental Plants, University of Georgia Extension
• Deer-Resistance List, Plant NoVA Natives
• Deer Resistant Native Plants, University of Maryland Extension
• Deer Resistant Native Plants for the Northern Neck, Northern Neck Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society
• Deer Resistant or Not, Blandy experimental Farm, State Arboretum of Virginia
• Deer Resistant Plants, Cornell Cooperative Extension
• Deer Resistant Plants, North Carolina State University
• Landscape Plants Rated by Deer Resistance, Cooperative Extension, Rutgers University
• Special Collections: Deer Resistant Species, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
• Top 10 Deer Resistant Wildflowers, Audubon Society of Northern Virginia