When deer are very hungry they will eat almost anything, but during the growing season they usually have lots of options. That being the case, they often eat what they like best. Following is a list of trees, shrubs, perennial flowers, and annual flowers used by North Dakota gardeners. They are grouped according to the relative palatability of these plants to deer.
TREES AND SHRUBS | ||
Deer generally prefer to eat: | Deer sometimes eat: | Deer generally dislike: |
Apple | Amur maple | Barberry |
(Fruit trees in general) | Azalea | Buffaloberry |
Basswood (Linden) | Black cherry | Currant (Gooseberry) |
Birch | Boxelder | Honeysuckle |
Bur oak | Bush honeysuckle | Juniper |
Chokecherry | Cottonwood | Lilac |
Cotoneaster | Elm | Mt. Laurel |
Dogwood | Forsythia | Nanking cherry |
English Ivy | hazelnut | Nannyberry |
Green ash | Highbush cranberry | Ponderosa pine |
Hackberry | Ironwood | Potentilla |
Hydrangea | Mountain ash | Raspberry |
Larch | Oak | Russian olive |
Maple | Rose | St. John's wort |
Rhodedendron | Scotch pine | Spruce |
Sandberry | Spirea | Western yellow pine |
Serviceberry | Sumac | Western red cedar |
Siberian crab | White pine | Wormwood (Artemisia) |
Viburnum | Wild plum | |
Weigla | Fir | |
White cedar (Arborvitae) | ||
White pine | ||
Willows | ||
Yews |
PERENNIALS | ||
Deer generally prefer to eat: | Deer generally dislike: | |
Crocus | Achillea (Yarrow) | Goldenrod |
Daylily | Ajuga | Joe-Pye weed |
Hawkweed | Allium | Lamb's ear |
Hosta | Anemone | Lavender |
Hyacinth | Bittersweet | Lily-of-the-valley |
Iris | Bleeding heart | Lupine |
Lily | Buttercup | Monkshood |
Meadow rue | Clematis | Pachysandra |
Phlox | Columbine | Penstemon |
Rose | Cinquefoil | Pennyroyal |
Sedum | Coneflower | Peony |
Strawberry | Coral bell | Poppy |
Tulip | Coreopsis | Primrose |
Cransbill | Ribbongrass | |
Daffodil | Rosemary | |
Daisy | Sage | |
Ferns | Snow-on-the-Mountain | |
Feverfew | Speedwell | |
Flax | Tansy | |
Forget-me-not | Thistle | |
Gayfeather | Toadflax | |
Goatsbeard | Yucca |
ANNUALS AND BIENNIALS | |||
Deer generally prefer to eat: | Deer generally dislike: | ||
Hollyhock | Alyssum | Geranium | Periwinkle |
Impatiens | Begonia | Heliotrope | Polygonum |
Pansy | Dahlia | Lobelia | Primula |
Sunflower | Dusty miller | Marigold | Salvia |
Violet | Flax | Mint | Snapdragon |
Forget-me-not | Morning glory | Verbena | |
Four-o'clock | Mullein | Zinnia | |
Foxglove | Parsley |
NOTE: The information provided above was gleaned from browse survey reports conducted by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, a recent article published in Minnesota Horticulturist (Oh, Deer! Suggestions for coping with Deer in the Home Landscape, B.R. Jarvis and D.F. Bravero), public information bulletins produced by the states of Illinois and New Jersey, New York, and conversations with local nursery owners.