Deer Resistant Plants in Boone, North Carolina

The town of Boone is located in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina, an area immersed in natural wildlife and well populated with deer. As hungry deer can threaten the health of trees, shrubs and other plants (especially when other food sources are scarce), it is smart to select plants less appealing to deer when gardening.

Deer Feeding Tendencies

• According to the University of North Carolina's Cooperative Extension Program, deer prefer plants that are soft to touch and high in water content; they are especially attracted to flowering buds and sprouting plants in spring time. Common features of plants that are last resort for feeding deer are thorns, strong scents and tastes, hairy leaves and/or poisonous or sap producing.

Deer Resistant Trees

• Trees that are typically safe from deer damage are large with high hanging foliage. Seldom damaged tree's of North Carolina include American Holly, honey locust, crape Myrtle, southern and sweetbay magnolia, gingko, pines, live oak, bald cypress, chastetree and most varieties of palms.

Safe Shrubs and Ferns

• Shrubs that are rarely part of a deer's meal include century plant, wintergreen barberry, plum yew, eleagnus, pineapple guava, Chinese juniper, wax Myrtle, oleander, southern yew, rosemary and yucca. Less susceptible ferns include autumn fern, Christmas fern, Florida shield and Holly fern.

Resistant Perennials

• Deer avoid strong fragrances, which make the following perennials relatively safe from deer destruction, according to the University of Carolina's Cooperative Extension Program: yarrow, powis castle artemesia, false indigo, angel's trumpet, dianthus, blanket flower, lenten rose, red hot poker, lantana, Russian sage, Texas sage, Mexican bush age, bee balm and catmint.

Warning

• According to North Carolina State University's Cooperative Extension Program, no plant is safe from deer; if deer are hungry they will eat just about anything. That said, gardeners are advised to use a variety of deterrent methods to protect plants and trees from harm; for example, you can construct a wire cylinder around the base of your trees to protect the bark from antler damage.