Marilyn’s garden in Surfside is a deer friendly rather than a deer resistant garden. There are no attempts made to protect plants with fencing or cages or deer-repelling sprays. Marilyn and her daughter Nancy have watched fawns be born in the thick of the plants in the garden.
photo by Nancy Gorshe
As we arrive for spring clean up in February 2016
Here I will show the plants that survive and bloom in Marilyn’s garden. I have put the date of the photo so that you can see what the plants look like at different times of the year.
I have been very impressed with how the above blue Juniper is so drought tolerant and does not get eaten. Too bad that where I planted it, it only shows in winter!
One year the deer ate the plume poppy. This year they have let it bloom. It can be a runner and might annoy you in the long run, but I love it.
Evergreen huckleberry is a wonderful native shrub. It is very slow growing, so I wish there had been more than two large specimens along the back of Marilyn’s garden.
I seem to recall the deer may have eaten a few blossoms last winter, but usually this has been left alone.
I find most ferns are left alone.
Agastache (hyssop) comes in many lovely colours. July 10, with painted sage
As a rule I find all Salvias whether annual or perennial are left alone by deer.
Eryngium (sea hollies) are my favourite perennial.
Berberis ‘Helmond Pillar’, July 10. Barberries are very deer resistant.
I love all the alliums. Albopilosum and schubertii are my favourites.
golden marjoram, July 10You will also find in Marilyn’s garden Oregano which the deer do not bother at all.
Another great silver plant is Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’. Marilyn does not love silver foliage as much as I do which is the only reason there is not more in this garden.
All thyme is left alone, and it comes in lovely colours: silver, white and green, gold and green.
In 2012, Marilyn and Nancy got a nice harvest of figs!
Ornamental grasses are wonderful deer resisters and Marilyn loves them. My favourite is Stipa gigantea, which this garden lacks because the one that was there dwindled and I forgot to replace it. I believe it was a deer casualty, but not from them eating it. The Stipa was in their path and got trampled or lain upon!
This is but a young Rozanne. I thought the deer would eat her but they do not, at least not so far in this garden. She is the plant of the century according to the Royal Horticultural Society and I cannot recommend her enough.
Other plants not yet pictured:
Cistus ‘Elma’, a rock rose
Ceanothus (California lilac)
There is one Phormium, left alone by deer.
More information to come!
update, 9 June 2014
Marilyn’s daughter posted this photo on Facebook:
When we went to the garden a day later, I photographed the plants that are in bloom are about to bloom, even though a deer family lives there.
2016: This year, they are chowing down voraciously on the Persicaria.
Yes, my own concept in our garden was to build a big fence around the whole thing. So I can grow anything I want (that will grow in this zone) but I miss seeing the baby deer being born outside my window.
What a fabulous resource. Deer have just started to visit me. Fencing isn’t practical and, from what I hear, chemical repellents aren’t reliable and perhaps not desirable. Finding plants that I can grow successfully and still enjoy having the deer around has to be the solution.
I absolutely love your deer friendly garden. I’m in England and am trying to do the same thing as I love my plants and seeing the deer in my garden. By the way your garden is beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
[…] a deer friendly garden […]
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What an amazing variety AND unusual concept (the deer-friendly one)…
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Yes, my own concept in our garden was to build a big fence around the whole thing. So I can grow anything I want (that will grow in this zone) but I miss seeing the baby deer being born outside my window.
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[…] a deer friendly garden […]
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[…] a deer friendly garden […]
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[…] a deer friendly garden […]
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[…] a deer friendly garden […]
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What a fabulous resource. Deer have just started to visit me. Fencing isn’t practical and, from what I hear, chemical repellents aren’t reliable and perhaps not desirable. Finding plants that I can grow successfully and still enjoy having the deer around has to be the solution.
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Thanks!! I fear their tastes change from garden to garden, which makes each one a learning experience.
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Very nice. Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you.
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Aww..The garden and the deer…beautiful…
I wish a deer would visit my garden.Thanks for sharing:)
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Thanks for reading and commenting.
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I absolutely love your deer friendly garden. I’m in England and am trying to do the same thing as I love my plants and seeing the deer in my garden. By the way your garden is beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you so much for commenting!
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