Health & Fitness
Best Deer-resistant Plants for Long Island
As the gardening and landscaping season picks up on the East End, people sometimes wonder, "What are the best types of plants to install if I don't have deer fencing?"
As the gardening and landscaping season picks up on the East End, people sometimes wonder, "What are the best types of plants to install if I don't have deer fencing?"
Deer are beautiful and graceful, but the effects of deer are often not so graceful. Are there any plants that are deer resistant and non-invasive? If you are interested in visual examples of deer-resistant plants for the Northeast, click here for a photographic slide gallery of top deer-resistant plants.
Blake Wood of Hamptons.com has provided a summary list of some plants that are known to be deer resistant, however, the list includes bamboo that is considered a highly invasive species by many. Grasses he lists are also considered invasive, but not as much as bamboo. This seems to be a paradox. Invasive species are not so desirable, but are often considered as a possible option for deer environments precisely because they are hardy and deer-resistant. The best choice would seem to be native species of Long Island plants and flowers that are highly deer resistant.
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The Cornell Cooperative began a program in 1999 that continues to this day that educates the public on underutilized non-invasive species. You can search the list for the word “deer” and you will find perfect specimens that are both deer resistant and non-invasive. See the list here at this link.
The Cornell Cooperative has has also provided information specifically on the subject of Long Island invasive species, as noted in this attached PDF file.
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Rutgers University has provided an extensive chart of deer-resistant plants with photos that can be checked against the invasive species list in order to determine the ideal choice for your land. Click here for the complete comparison chart.
Blake Wood included Berberis (Barberry) first on his list of tress/shrubs and a variety of this shrub, Berberis vulgaris, grows in the wild and is used as a culinary spice that is rich in vitamin C.
