Howdy folks,
I'm doing a large design job for a client out in deer country,
and I'm looking for plants with red, yellow and orange , the hot end
of the spectrum that deer avoid.
I've seen a number of lists of 'deer resistant plants" but I've
also had enough feedback from customers to know that he deer don't
seem to be reading those published lists.
I'm a ghetto boy living near the squalid environs of North Loop
so I havn't had much experience working west of Mopac in deer country.
If anyone in the western part of the city in deer country knows of
plants that the deer really do avoid I'd like to hear about it.

One shrub I would like to use since the customer wants low red
foliage is red Lorapetalum. There is a bunch of them being used in the
landscaping at Central Market midtown, and the customer likes that
look but I don't know if they would stand up to the deer.

Thanks in advance for any rsponses.
Steve Coyle
www.austingardencenter.com

If anyone in the western part of the city in deer country knows of
plants that the deer really do avoid I'd like to hear about it.

In my experience, the only thing that deer don't eat is oleander and chaste
trees, both large shrubs, and only oleander gives you any reds. I'm told that
they avoid some herbs, like sage, but no direct experience there. I know they
will eat my wife's bromeliads, and these particular plants have little spines
that get into my fingers when I move them around.

The oleander is poisonous, and the chaste trees have a strong, creosote-like
smell which repels them.
Gary Brady
Austin, TX

It's my understanding that deer in different areas will eat different
"deer-resistant" plants, so results vary.

I live in Lost Creek, south of Westlake and east of the Barton Creek
Country Club community. Our deer avoid my rosemary, salvias (ALL types that
I've tried), yucca, red skullcap, thyme, betony, gold, most lantana (but not
purple trailing), society garlic, wall germander, mexican mint marigolds
(they're supposed to nibble on those), copper canyon daisies, dwarf yaupon,
primrose jasmine, and gulfstream nandina (I know, non-native). Though on most
deer-resistant lists, the asian jasmine which was supposed
to act as groundcover was obliterated. There are about 1000 homes in
Lost Creek, and the landscapes are dominated by lantanas
(especially gold ones), yuccas, and salvias. As mentioned before, oleanders
are also untouched.

They will eat anything which is loaded with sugars and fertilizer right
from the grower. Everything needs to be protected at first (at least
a few weeks) with your favorite stinky deer deterrent solution.

4" plants are subject to stomping and being pulled even if they don't like
to eat them. Young trees are subject to trunk damage (from antler scraping)
and must be protected until the trunks are large enough that the areas
between the points of the antlers (whatever those areas are called, sorry)
can't get around them.

My experience has basically matched the information that I've seen at this site:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/p...ions/deer.html
and I also found these sites helpful:
http://lonestar.texas.net/~jleblanc/deerplants.html
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/p.../deerbest.html

--
Marc Stephenson IBM Server Group - Austin,TX
T/L: 678-3189

Add oregano, lemon grass (both citratus and flexuosus), Mex firebush,
American Beautyberry, American Elm, Cedar Elm, culinary sage, Mexican
oregano (poliomentha l.), persimmon (native as well as other) and Cenizo.
Unless conditions are really bad they have left crepe myrtle alone.
As big a threat last year were grassshoppers which I got some guinea hens to
alleviate that problem.

I should also mention...
The deer don't seem to bother the various grasses (pampas, zebra, bear,
bluestem, purple fountain, etc) or cacti, sotols, and agaves.
--
Marc Stephenson IBM Server Group - Austin,TX
T/L: 678-3189