Our home in Louisville, KY sits on 1.25 unfenced acres and I can tell you that there have been numerous times I wished it was fenced like my neighbor’s with a 5 ft. tall fence. Now a 5 ft. tall fence is not meant to keep deer out, but the deer have yet to hop their fence to get at any of the “goodies” inside. So even though the fence will not stop the moles, voles or rabbits it does seem to deter the deer which seem to be a bane of my existence here! Now don’t get me wrong I love to look at deer and I love seeing the babies coming through in the spring, but they annoy the sh*t out of the dogs who love to stalk the backyard and bark whine and cry to go get them…
Cute right? Yes, but these are in my yard, I’d much rather see them somewhere else…
Over the past four years here (we’re in zone 6 by the way) I have found quite a few great plants that no critter seems to want to partake of… most of them are herbs, that’s right just your basic garden herbs!
Mint in the background (kept in check, but you need to be aware that it can spread like wildfire) so maybe don’t do as I do in this case… but I have plenty for my Mojitos all summer long!
I love my Chives, they are about 14″ tall and the purple blooms stay for weeks… I think people sometimes use the blooms in salads… I just look at them and every once in a while snip off some fresh chives for a recipe. They will go dormant and brown in the winter, but you just remove the dead and they come back beautifully in the Spring.
I also have a bunch of purple Salvia that I grew from seed and is really starting to take off this year… I think they smell like BAD body odor (or maybe cat urine) when you touch them but they have a very pretty flowing display… and I don’t touch them unless I’m deadheading them.
One of my all time favorite plants (and super easy to propagate or grow from seed ) is Lamb’s Ear. This particular variety is a Giant Lambs ear, which will clump more than the smaller variety of Lamb’s Ear, I have a smaller variety in the front borders which really fills up the boarder and cuts down dramatically the need for mulch.
A new favorite of mine is Lemon Balm, it looks similar to mint, but it grows in clumps and as a bonus when the dogs walk through it they pick up a nice lemony scent! This will be a plant I will use over and over again in my landscape plan, below is all new Spring growth as it will get about 24″ or so tall.
I think the garden pests don’t care for the aroma of the herbs as they do not touch my oregano, rosemary, chives, lavender, mint, catmint or lemon balm all of which come back year after year in our yard. These herbs can be an inexpensive alternative to other perennials and as a bonus you have fresh herbs for cooking or crafting with, I think it’s a win-win to fill your borders up with as many herbs as possible! The critters also never touch my Lamb’s Ear or Russian Sage, but the rabbit nibbles my Phlox down to a nub, he’s such an ass! Sometimes “something” will nibble on my Bleeding Hearts as well, but I’m not sure who the culprit is yet…
I also want to put a plug in for one of my favorite vines of all time, The Chocolate vine… it has the prettiest foliage and tiny, delicate blooms in spring, this vine has always been a healthy grower for me.
We planted 2 vines in our patio planter last spring and while they were slow to take off they seem to be growing like crazy now… just in time for their new owners.
It truly is a joy for me to watch all of our plants grow and flourish in spite of the critters!
Thanks as always for stopping by…
Until next time!
PS My mom turned me onto this product which we both swear by for deterring deer, does nothing for rabbits, but the deer don’t like it and it’s cheap! I apply every few weeks or so, as bonus it’s a natural fertilizer…
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