Oh deer! Mississippi has a deer population of more than two million, second only to Texas as the state with the densest deer population. Bucks are larger than females, generally weighing in at 150 pounds. Males grow horns in the spring and shed them by the end of the breeding season. Caramel colored fawns with scatterings of white spots remain with the mother for an entire year before reaching maturity and venturing off on their own.
Deer can decimate vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs, berries, and vines. In fact, a small herd can destroy a backyard garden overnight. In addition, deer can introduce ticks which carry Lyme disease into your backyard. To minimize damage by deer, the goal is to make your lawn less desirable to them. This may include a variety of tactics including barriers, repellants, deterrents, and deer resistant plants.
Barriers can include a combination of fences, netting, and tree mesh. Although expensive, this can also be the most effective method of protection against deer browsing. Electric fencing is another alternative for large areas. In addition to the height of the fence, the depth of plantings around the fence can provide additional barriers. Planting large shrubs and trees around the fence reduces the ability of the deer to safely jump the fence.
Deer repellant manufacturing has become a multimillion-dollar industry over the last ten years. Predator odor repellants (bobcat, coyote, cougar) are popular. Based on your wildlife demographic, this product can also invite other critters into your yard. Commercial sprays can also be applied directly onto plants to make them less palatable to deer. These products are not recommended for vegetables or other edibles.
Homemade deterrents like sprinklers, tin plates, noise makers can work temporarily. Like dogs, who test the boundaries of an electric collar, deer will send out a scout to test the deterrent. Once found to be non-threatening these devices will no longer be effective.
The last strategy is to include deer resistant plants in your landscape. Hungry deer will eat almost anything and prefer young tender plants to older tougher shoots. But there are plants that are toxic and unappetizing to deer. The following list from Cornell University provides some ideas for you.
TREES
American holly
Leucothoe
European beech
Honey locust
Austrian pine
SHRUBS
Boxwood
Russian olive
Japanese pieris
Forsythia
Chinese junipers
Butterfly bush
Yucca
Thorny plants (such as barberry and buckthorn)
PERENNIALS
Yarrow
Ornamental chives and onions
Wormwood
Butterfly weed
Astilbe
Painted and Shasta daisy
Feverfew
Coreopsis
Sweet William
Purple coneflower
Joe-pye weed
Mint
Bee balm
Daffodil
Ferns
Sage
Soapwort
Goldenrod
Tansy
Vinca
ANNUAL FLOWERS
Ageratum
Snapdragon
Begonia
Dahlia
Foxglove
Blanket flower
Morning glory
Lovelia
Four o’ clock
Geranium
Blue salvia
Dusty miller
Marigold
Verbena
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