We stopped in at (fairly) local nursery, Richards Tree Farm, the other day. To be honest, we happened to be passing the door and the end of season discounts tempted us – don’t you just love a bargain? There were certainly some good bargains to be had but something else struck me. Near the checkout there was a big display of deer deterrents, Deer Out, that sort of thing.

Now. I’m sure they work for a while – if you apply them properly, and it doesn’t rain, and you don’t go on vacation, and the deer aren’t too hungry… And shop-bought is definitely the way to go. I’ll call the cops if I hear you’ve been mixing up home-made sprays of mustard and rotting eggs and lion dung and latex paint (or whatever the lastest recommendation happens to be) – yuk. It’s a public nuisance.

After all, isn’t it better to plant something the deer are less likely to eat in the first place? And not plant dahlias and hibiscus or roses – or whatever the local favorites are – and then plaster them in pongy potions?

So – in your garden, what are the plants the deer never ever eat? Let me know by leaving a comment (below) so everyone else can benefit. Here in north east Pennsylvania, it’s Andromeda bush, Pieris. Some of our pieris have been here thirty years and they still have leaves down to the ground.

But deer tastes across the country vary – so leave a note of your British county or your state as well. (Even if it’s a state of despair because they eat absolutely everything!)