Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Deer me

Got a question that I'm hoping some of you may be able to help with.
It involves deer. And gardening. And (of course) horses.

I want to plant some flowers/bushes at the new place that look pretty but that the deer won't destroy. And they must be safe to have around horses, because you know even if they aren't in the pasture flowers/leaves/seeds/spores/etc can be blown there by the wind!

At this time I do not plan on having a vegetable garden. I want to spend the first year there just getting into the routine of being there with my critters before I add something like a veggie garden (or chickens??) ;) into the mix.

8 comments:

  1. Hmmm - good question. I have no idea what plants to even suggest. I know I've heard someone talking about which plants deer like/don't like, but my CRAFT disease seems to be kicking in and I'm drawing a blank! lol

    Is there a good list of horse-safe plants out there on the internet? I don't even know which plants are dangerous for horses. Need to go look that up!

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  2. Up here in Manitoba we don't have many deer coming into our yard - I think mostly because our dogs are mostly outside and would bark to scare them away. That being said I'm also a really bad gardener so everything I do is in pots. Easy to move, and easy to keep the dogs out of. Good luck!

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  3. Check with your County Extension. They usually have many resources that will help you determine what plants are deer resistant and not toxic to horses.
    Also, try searching 'deer resistant plants' or 'plants poisonous to horses'
    Good luck! Deer can be a nuisance!

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  4. You can get plant and gardening catalogs mail order. They usually list with an icon which ones are deer resistant, meaning that deer are less likely to munch on them. NOT avoid them totally. Daffodils are one such plant. But, I don't know what's toxic to horses and what isn't in that case. I do know that most animals naturally avoid plants that are poisonous to them. For example, my goats got loose a few weeks ago. They happily munched weeds, roses, evergreens, and grass but left the daffodils alone, which are bad for them.

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  5. ummm all I know from where we are is deer sure like hay, especially alfalfa and if you can keep them away from that, thats half the battle, and they also like evergreens fresh needles. And horses generally dont eat whats poisenous unless they have nothing else to eat. Good Luck and have fun planting new stuff.

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  6. We have deer in our yard everyday. They seem to only eat the grass. We have fruit trees, but they don't bother them too much, they eat some gooseberries and maybe a peach or two. We have tons of plants and flowers that they leave alone. So I think you will be okay with whatever you decide to plant.
    But they will definitely destroy a garden. Lots of our neighbors have deer fencing around their gardens to keep the deer out.

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  7. I know that heavenly bamboo repels deer but have no idea if it is bad for horses. I know it's not on a top ten list of dangerous plants but don't know beyond that.

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  8. I see that another one of your readers suggested checking with your county extension agent, which is what i would also suggest. How exciting to start out with new flower beds!

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Wordless Wednesday ~ new trailer!