• Deer can decimate your gardendeer image by Henryk Olszewski from Fotolia.com
  
  For many gardeners, deer are not the cute Bambi-like creatures of a Disney fairytale. They are a nightmare pest that can decimate a garden in the span of a few hours. For those gardeners who do not want to resort to building fences or using harsh repellents, the best way to avoid deer damage is to plan your garden using plants that deer naturally do not eat. Granted, when deer are starving, no plant is completely safe but there are a wide variety of plants and flowers that are more deer resistant than others.
  
  

Camouflage Gardening

• Camouflage gardening is the practice of using plants that contain natural chemicals that deter deer and other pests from eating them. These plants have a scent that is unattractive to deer who use their sense of smell to determine what is safe to eat. Other types of camouflage plants include those that have a bitter taste, caustic milky/sticky sap or coarse hairy/prickly leaves. As a general rule of thumb, plant a ratio of two camouflage plants for every other garden plant that does not fall into the "deer resistant" category.
  
  

Deer Resistant Plants

• When choosing plants for an area where deer are a nuisance, it is comforting to know that there are a wide variety available that deer do not generally like. For example, deer do not eat ornamental grasses such as Pampas grass. They also tend to avoid herbs and others with strong scents such as lemon balm, sage, bee balm and Russian sage. With the exception of roses, deer also don't like thorny or prickly plants like coneflowers, cleome and barberry. A complete list of plants unattractive to deer can be found at Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (http://njaes.rutgers.edu/deerresistance/).
  
  

A Starving Deer Will Eat Anything

• Despite the list of "deer resistant' plants, there really is no guarantee that deer will not eat them. A starving deer will make exceptions in the name of hunger. This is especially true in the spring when deer will eat almost anything. New growth is lush and rich in nutrients and deer will eat even plants they normally would avoid if they are hungry enough. During this time, additional methods such as a temporary barricades or repellent should be used until plants harden off and become unappealing.