Deer-resistant Plants

Deer seem to avoid aromatic plants such as rosemary and lavender.

All these plants listed are suited to a warm, well-drained area that receives little if any moisture.

Grasses

Calamagrostis
Festuca glauca
Helictotrichon sempervirens
(blue oat grass)
Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gracillimus’ (maiden grass)
Stipa species (feather grass)

Perennials

Achillea (yarrow)
Digitalis lutea (foxglove)
Echinops (globe thistle)
Eryngium bourgatii
Euphorbia (spurge)
Leucanthemum x superbum (shasta daisies)
Lychnis coronaria (rose campion)
Ophiopogon planicapus ‘Nigrescens’
Origanum laevigatum
‘Hopleys’ (oregano)
Phormium (New Zealand flax)
Stachys
Verbena bonariensis
(tall verbena)
Yucca (Adam’s needle)

Shrubs

Artemisia species (wormwood)
Brachyglottis Duneden hybrids ‘Sunshine’ (a.k.a. Senecio greyi)
Choisya ternata (Mexican orange)
Cistus species
Lavandula species (lavender)
Potentilla fruticosa (cinquefoil)
Rosmarinus (rosemary)
Salvia officinalis (culinary sage)

Subshrub

Dorycnium hirsutum

Vines

Solanum crispum ‘Glasnevin’ (potato vine)

Drought-resistant Plants

Planting Tips

• Plant October to April when it is wet. The season’s natural moisture and cooler temperatures, provided when plants are getting established, will help them to adapt more easily.

• Use small plants with healthy, well- developed roots. Good roots help the plant to better cope with dry growing conditions.

• Plant at the bottom of a slope to take advantage of natural drainage of moisture.

• Plant near downpipes and drainage chains to take advantage of natural water runoff.

Shade Plants

Abutilon ‘Kentish Belle’
Fuchsia magellanica (hardy fuchsia)
Helleborus species
Lysimachia nummularia (golden creeping Jenny)

Sun Plants

Acanthus (bear’s breeches)
Aeonium arboreum ‘Atropurpureum’
Cistus species
Cynara scolymus (globe artichoke)
Dierama
Dorycnium hirsutum
Echeveria
(non-hardy perennial)
Erisymum cultivars (wallflower)
Eryngium (sea holly)
Eryngium bourgatii
Festuca glauca
Lavatera
(mallow)
Ophiopogon planicapus ‘Nigrescens’
Phlomis italica (Jerusalem sage) and Phlomis russeliana
Phlox species
Stachys
Dwarf apple trees – Gravenstein, Lady Apple, Belle du Boskop (which need pollinators); Lord Lambourne (self-fertile)