How to keep deer, rabbits, and gophers out of your garden

Anyone who has planted a garden will know that unwelcome animal visitors can cause a lot of havoc in your flower beds, vegetable gardens, or anywhere else you grow. There’s nothing worse than spending a lot of time, effort, and money to make your yard beautiful, only to find that a deer has come in the middle of the night and eaten away at your flower beds. Or maybe a rabbit stopped by to munch on your vegetable garden.

So how do you combat this problem? There are many different ways to prevent deer, rabbits, and gophers from infiltrating your garden. Their effectiveness varies, and the best approach is often a combination of multiple strategies. We’ve outlined some options here, so read on to find out how you can save your garden from destructive pests this summer!

Deer and pest management strategies

There are a number of ways you can keep the pests at bay in your yard. Let’s learn about some of the main strategies you can use to keep your yard safe and beautiful.

Planting the right foliage

A great strategy for keeping pests out of your yard is to plant things that don’t appeal to them! Remember that when we talk about deer, rabbit, and gopher resistant plants, it does not mean that those animals will not eat a particular plant. It means they prefer other vegetation instead, unless they are really hungry! The following list of plants is what they – under most circumstances – prefer not to eat.

Deer taste many plants, many times before they realize they don’t like that particular plant. If your area has young deer, they are bound to taste test everything and you may find your flowers on the ground where they dropped and/or trampled over them.

If you want to keep deer and other pests out of your garden, focus on planting things that are less inviting to deer, rabbits, and gophers. Our list below has some ideas for different types of plants that are less appealing to unwanted garden visitors. You can find a larger list of resistant plants at the bottom of this post.

Fuzzy or Hairy Foliage – eg: Lamb’s Ears, Lady’s Mantle, Siberian Buglos, Nicotiana, Tuberous Begonias, Heliotrope, Yarrow, Ageratum, Poppies, Verbena….etc.

Prickly Foliage – eg: Globe Thistle, Cardoon Artichoke, Sea Holly…etc.

Heavy Fragrance Foliage – eg: Herbs, Catmint, Agastache, Artemisia, Russian Sage, Salvia, Bee Balm, Lamium, Lantana…etc.

Toxic Foliage to Deer – eg: All Ferns, False Indigo, Bleeding Hearts, Daffodils, Helleboris, Monkshood, Spurges, Poppy’s, Foxglove

Leathery or Fibrous Foliage – eg: Japanese Spurge, Tuberous Begonia, Bergenia, Colocasia, Alocasia, Peony, Iris, Ornamental Grass

Installing physical deterrents

Another great idea to help keep deer out of your garden is to install fencing, netting, or other physical deterrents. But what kinds are the most effective? The choice can be daunting as there are a lot of different options to choose from, but we’ve got some guidelines to help you!

• Single Fence – If you’re installing a regular single fence, you’ll want to make sure it’s at least 8 feet tall if the material is see through, or 6 feet tall if the material is solid.
• Double Fence – Consider installing a 4-5 foot tall picket fence then another fence 5 feet away that could be built of cheaper material such as wire fence. This is an effective option if you’d prefer shorter fencing options, as deer won’t jump over double fences 5 feet apart from each other.
• Electric Fencing
• Invisible Deer Netting – Deer netting is a plastic black mesh fastened to wood posts or metal T-Bar Posts.
• Netting on individual plants
• Ground deterrents – You can install a rocky border around the perimeter 6-8 feet wide or install cattle guards embedded into the ground.

Repellent sprays

Deer deterrent sprays are a good investment and will help to deter the deer from eating your beautiful flowers but keep in mind that deer sprays need to be applied regularly about every week or after it rains in order to work properly.

The following brands are proven to work well if applied as per application rates and specifications on bottle. Always read the manufacturers instructions when using sprays.

• Bobbex – Egg Based
• Deer Away – Egg Based
• Deer Stopper II – Egg Based (apply monthly)
• Liquid Fence – Egg Based
• Plantskydd – Dried Blood Based
• Hinder – Soap Based

Deer, rabbit, and gopher resistant plants