Oh, Deer! How to grow a lovely garden despite uninvited guests

Even if you have an unfenced yard and deer in your neighborhood, you can still grow a lovely garden. Some tried-and-true strategies include watching what your neighbors successfully grow, trying individual plants before investing in multiples of the same species, and protecting susceptible plants with physical barriers or deer repellent. While these strategies can help lead to a peaceful co-existence with deer, it pays to up your game by learning more about deer and by learning what plants they find distasteful. The UC Marin Master Gardeners have two resources to help:

Pest profile: deer – Learn about deer habits, including when and where they’re most active.

Deer resistant plants -- Learn which plants deer dislike and use our list of over 100 plants that deer avoid to help sort through the options and find the right plants for you. Yes, there really are plants that deer will spit out!