Deer and Gopher Resistant Plants

By Josh Reilly

I’m just going to come right out and say it: There is no such thing as a “deer-proof” plant. As for “deer-resistant,” take any such claims with a great big rock of salt. Deer are browsers. If they cannot find what they prefer, they’ll eat what they can find. At the same time, as browsers, they do not usually destroy mature garden plants (with some very important exceptions, such as roses). They nibble, then move on. This amounts to routine pruning and may be beneficial. I have a California Bay Laurel in my front yard, next to the driveway. Lovely plant. The deer helpfully chew off several inches of new growth each year. The result is a remarkably tidy shrub that has only grown about a foot and a half in 24 years. Thank you, Bambi.  

Deer, however, will completely obliterate young, tender annuals, shrubs and perennials, including “deer resistant plants” in their first year or so of growth. I have seen them tear up deer resistant plants, such as the poisonous Helleborus, and spit them out, leaving them lying in the dirt where I planted them, as if to say, “Seriously? Nice try, human!”

The same applies to gophers, but after years of painstaking and expensive experimentation, I have identified a list of plants that get about as close to deer and/or gopher resistant as we are going to get. I’ll focus mostly on the gophers, but many of these plants contain toxins and are avoided by deer and gophers both. Remember, however, that these animals have to learn the plants by smell and sometimes by taste. Only one way to do that. You may want to plant a few more than you think you’ll actually need.  

This list pertains to Ben Lomond and parts of the San Lorenzo Valley. Consider this a starting point only.

Lavender and hummingbird. Lavender’s fragrance attracts pollinators to the mountain garden. (Ray Hennessy)

Bullet-proof and ironclad

Perennials: Euphorbia (all, have irritant toxic sap), Lavender, Rosemary 

Short-lived perennials and annuals: Digitalis, Bachelor button, Centaurea, Nigella, Poppies (Papaver sp), Alstroemeria

Shrubs and perennials: Lavender, rosemary, manzanita, Euphorbia, Helleborus, Society garlic (Tulbaghia), Butterfly bush (Buddleia), CA Fuchsia (Epilobium canum), Pacific Wax Myrtle (Myrica sp), Euonymus sp., Jeruselam sage (Phlomis russeliana), Lavender cotton (Santolina), Germander Sager (Salvia chamaedryoides), Germander (Teucrium spp), Silk Tassel plant (Garrya elliptica)

Grasses and grass-like plants: Bear grass (Nolina sp), Soap Root Yucca (Y. glauca), deer grass (Muhlenbergia rigens), bamboo muhly (M. dumosa), Berkeley Sedge (Carex tumulicola)

Succulents: Agaves, some sedums, Crassula, Haworthia, Tree stonecrop (Sedum dendroideum), Haworthia, trailing Lampranthus, Hens and Chicks, (Sempervivens), Century plant (Agave americana), Artichoke agave (Agave Parryi var truncate)

Bulbs: CA native Iris douglasiana, daffodils (Narcissus sp), grape hyacinth (Muscari sp)

Do not use gopher baskets; raised beds with gopher wire works. CA native Irises, (untouched by either, for 23 years), Pink Ladies, bulbine 

Pretty safe bet

Shrubs and perennials: Creeping yarrow, (Achilleum), CA native Red Currant (Ribes Sanguineum) and Catalina Currant (Ribes viburnifolium), CA native Salvias (S. Leucophylla, S. Clevelandii), S. spathacea or hummingbird sage, S. microphylla “Hot Lips”), Santolina (grey and green cultivars), Brunnera, Creeping Speedwell (Veronica sp)

Grasses and grass-like plants: Feather reed and Pacific nut grass (Calamagrostis sp), Sesleria, Black Timber, Chusquea and Fargesia bamboos, Sea Oat grass (Chasmanthium), Reeds (Juncus), Purple needle grass (Nassella pulchra)

Bulbs: bearded Irises (don’t use gopher baskets; bulbs propagate and spread sideways), Pacific Coast Hybrid Irises, Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium sp), Allium

Succulents: Lewisia, Dudleya

Ferns: Sword fern (Polystichum sp), Giant chain fern (Woodwardia sp), maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum)

Herbs and medicinals: thyme, Feverfew (Chrysanthemum), Mint

Annuals: Poppies (Papaver sp), Love in a Mist (Nigella)

Vines: CA native wild grape, Vinca (but you’ll wish it wasn’t)

Alas, the state flower, CA poppy (Eschscholzia californica), is not at all resistant. Pure gopher candy. Deer salad. But Gophers and deer can’t eat CA poppies as fast as new poppies germinate and grow.  

Josh Reilly, aka Uncle Skip, writes about seasonal gardening from his home in beautiful Ben Lomond, California.

Featured photo: California Fuchsia (Epilobium canum) is deer and gopher resistant and is native to California. (Calscape) 

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