Plants That Deer Don't Like
Deer are beautiful to watch and they certainly have a right to live near us, but when they start destroying the gardens you have labored over it can be pretty annoying! They have a right to live near us, so the best course of action if you have a deer problem is to adjust your practices. No plant is 100% deer proof. If deer are hungry, they will eat anything that looks slightly green. However, there are many Michigan native plants that are resistant to deer browsing because of texture, aroma and/or flavor. If you have a high population of deer, in addition to planting deer resistant plants you can also use an organic natural deterrent around the perimeter of your garden. Products like "Plant Skydd" or "Liquid Fence" utilize predator urine, dried blood and other scents to repel deer, ground hogs, rabbits, etc. (Note: we are not endorsing the use of any specific product.) |
The list below features deer resistant herbaceous plants, grasses and sedges, and trees and shrubs--all of them are Michigan natives.
Note: Plants marked with * are available in our Fall ‘24 Native Plant Sale, which can be accessed through the "Shop" drop-down menu at the top of this page.
Native Flowers (Herbacious)
Baneberry |
Actea pachypoda, A. rubra |
*Yellow Giant Hyssop |
Agastache nepetoides |
*Nodding Wild Onion |
Allium cernuum |
Thimbleweed |
Anemone virginiana |
Angelica |
Angelica atropurpurea |
*Columbine |
Aquilegia canadensis |
Jack-in-the-pulpit |
Arisaema triphyllum |
Wild ginger |
Asarum canadense |
*Milkweed species |
*Asclepias tuberosa, A. syriaca, A. verticillata, A. incarnata |
Wild Blue Indigo |
Baptisia australis |
False boneset |
Brickellia eupatorioides |
Marsh marigold |
Caltha palustris |
Harebell |
Campanula rotundifolia, C. americana |
*Turtle head |
Chelone glabra |
Black snakeroot |
Cimicifuga racemosa |
*Coreopsis spp |
*Coreopsis lanceolata, C. palmata, *C. tripteris |
Purple prairie clover |
Dalea purpurea |
Dutchman’s breeches |
Dicentra cucullaria |
*Purple coneflower |
Echinacea purpurea, E. pallida |
*Rattlesnake master |
Eryngium yuccifolium |
*Joe-pye weed |
Eupatorium maculatum, *E. purpureum, E. fistulosus |
Boneset |
Eupatorium perfoliatum |
Flowering spurge |
Euphorbia corollata |
*Big Leaf Aster | Eurybia macrophylla |
Wild geranium |
Geranium maculatum |
*Prairie smoke |
Geum triflorum |
Sneezeweed |
Helenium autumnale |
*False sunflower |
Heliopsis helianthoides |
Alum Root |
Heuchera americana |
Virginia waterleaf |
Hydrophyllum virginianum |
*Blue Flag Iris |
*Iris virginica, I. versicolor |
*Blazing Star |
*Liatris scariosa, L. aspera, L. spicata |
*Cardinal flower |
Lobelia cardinalis |
*Blue lobelia |
Lobelia siphilitica |
Virginia bluebells |
Mertensia virginica |
*Bee balm |
Monarda fistulosa |
Horsemint |
Monarda punctata |
*Beardtongue (Penstemon sp.) |
*Penstemon digitalis, *P. hirsuitis |
Obedient plant |
Physotegia virgiana |
May Apple |
Podophyllum peltatum |
Solomon’s Seal |
Polygonatum biflorum |
Yellow Cone Flower | Ratibida pinnata |
*Black-eyed Susan |
*Rudbeckia fulgida, R. hirta |
Bloodroot |
Sanguinaria canadensis |
Ragwort |
Senecio aureus, S. obovatus |
*Goldenrods (showy, Riddell’s) |
*Solidago riddelli, *S. speciosa, *S. flexicaulis |
Celandine (wood) poppy |
Stylophorum diphyllum |
*New England Aster | Symphyotrichum novae-angliae |
Meadow Rue (spp tall, early) |
*Thalictrum dasycarpum, *T. dioicum |
Spiderwort |
Tradescantia ohioensis |
*Vervain species |
Verbena hastate, V. stricta |
*Ironweed |
Veronia missourica |
*Culver’s-root |
Veronicastrum virginicum |
Golden Alexanders |
Zizia aurea |
Grasses & Sedges
*Big bluestem |
Andropogon gerardii |
Sedges (Carex spp) |
Carex grayi, C. pennsylvania, C. plantaginea, C. platyphyllla, C. vulpinoidia |
Bottlebrush Grass | Elymus hystrix |
*Purple love grass |
*Eragrostis spectabilis |
Switch grass |
*Panicum virgatum |
*Little Bluestem |
*Schizachyrium scoparium |
Blue-eyed grass |
Sisyrinchium angustifolium |
*Prairie dropseed |
*Sporobolus heterolepis |
Trees & Shrubs
*Eastern red-bud |
Cercis canadensis |
Hawthorns |
Cratageus spp |
Tamarack |
Larix laricina |
Red pine |
Pinus resinosa |
Tag alder |
Alnus incana |
Witch hazel |
Hammamelis spp |
Winterberry |
Ilex verticillata |
*Common Ninebark | Physocarpus opulifolius |
*Shrubby Cinquefoil |
Potentilla fruticosa |
Beech |
Fagus grandifolia |
Paper birch |
Betula papyrifera |
Balsam fir |
Abies balsamea |
Serviceberry |
Amelanchiere spp |
*Buttonbush |
Cephalanthus occidentalis |
Eastern red cedar |
Juniperus virginiana |
Common juniper |
Juniperus communis |
*Spicebush |
Lindera benzoin |
*Choke Cherry | Prunus virginiana |
*Elderberry (American and Red-Berried) |
*Sambucus candadensis, S. racemosa |
*Nannyberry |
Viburnum lentago |
Sources: www.wildoneslansing.org , https://www.habitatmatters.org/, www.wildflower.org, http://www.aswp.org/pages/deer-resistant-native-plants