Shade loving perennial suggestions please.

19 years ago

We have been gardening on our property since we bought it in 2001. In the spring of 2002, the first garden I established was a hosta garden, but the deers finally discovered it this year, and I am going to have to take an about turn. The plan now is to remove all hostas except for the thick leave ones which they don't like. I'm assuming they don't like them as everything has been ravaged except Francis Williams and Christmas Tree Hostas as well as Francis William offsprings which I've grown from seed.

This garden is under White Paper Birches which presents another problem. I planted some Joe Pye Weed in this area only to discover that there's these tiny cater[pillars which 'web' down and if they hit such a plant, will devour it's leaves. They don't affect Hostas or Columbines. They don't affect the leaves of Astilbes, but will cut the stems of their flowers...

This is a garden which, once a large Rock Maple leafs out, receives just a tiny bit of dappled shade from supper until sunset. Beautiful soil set amoung boulders.

So, what do you grow in your shade garden? I will need to replace upwards of 30 Hostas. I was thinking of ferns - deers don't seem to eat them - but then again, I'd like flowers too. Plants don't need to be tall, but I'd like impact in some spots.

I came to this forum because I know I'll get great suggestions and possibly a sense of understanding at my frustration from those who face the same problem. Here's part of what the deers ate in the last two days and part of what I'm about to lose...

{{gwi:381952}}

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Comments (5)

sazzyrose
19 years ago
Very lovely, too bad that are losing it.
I wonder if you would spray it with a mixture of egg and water,if the deer would stay away.
Have you tried tiarella? or heuchera? Some of them have a fuzz to their leaves and the deer might not like them.

Shelley
P.S. I had great success with the seeds that you sent me this spring.
Crazy_Gardener
19 years ago
That's such a shame Nicole, your rock shade garden looks soooo beautiful to lose.

Do you not have a outdoor territorial dog, how about a motion activated sprinkler?

Here are a few perennial suggestions that are deer resistant.... but if they are very hungry, they will eat just about anything ;)

Aconitum Monkshood
Ajuga Bugleweed
Alchemilla mollis Lady's Mantle
Amsonia tabernaemontana Blue Stars
Angelica
Aquilegia Columbine
Arisaema triphyllum Jack-in-the-Pulpit
Aruncus dioicus Goatsbeard
Asarum Wild Ginger
Chelone Turtlehead
Cimicifuga racemosa Bugbane
Convallaria majalis Lily-of-the Valley
Dicentra Bleeding Heart
Digitalis purpurea Foxglove
Epimedium
Filipendula Meadowsweet
Galium odoratum Sweet Woodruff
Helleborus
Heuchera Coral Bells
Lamium
Matteuccia struthiopteris Ostrich Fern
Myosotis Forget-me-not
Myrrhis odorata Sweet Cicely
Phlox divaricata Woodland Phlox
Polemonium caeruleum Jacob's Ladder
Primula
Pulmonaria Lungwort
Ranunculus Buttercup
Thalictrum Meadow Rue
Tiarella Foamflower
Viola labradorica Labrador Violet

Sharon

Here is a link that might be useful: Motion Activated Sprinkler
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tiffy_z5_6_can
Original Author
19 years ago
Shelley,
I've tried spraying a concoction of garlic which they supposedly hate, but as with anything sprayed, they seem to know that the rain will take the scent of those items away. They came when we were having a solid day of rain this week with thunder and lightning, so even the dogs couldn't hear/sense them in the gardens. The dogs are scared of thunder anyway...
Glad to hear I could add to your gardens!

Sharon,
Thanks for the list. I do have some of those plants in other gardens, but they need to get bigger before I divide them. I might start hitting the end of season sales at the garden centers/nurseries.
The deers have eaten the primulas and the Pulmonarias in the spring in another garden, so they are no-gos.
I just started some new cuttings of Bleeding Hearts so there's an option, and I have a huge Monkshood I could split this fall after it flowers.
I also have a young Aruncus Doicus - would it do well in such shade? If yes, then that's a perfect spot!

My neighbour installed one of those sprinklers to try and stop them from going in her veggie garden but they got used to it quickly.

The population has really increased here as we live on a peninsula and no hunting is allowed as gunshots would be too close to homes. The winters have also been mild. Usually 45% of the population is culled by the cold, but their survival rate during winter has been in the 90 percentile.

I started changing the sunny gardens last year since they found those first. I was so hoping they wouldn't discover the hostas. Silly me!! LOL!
mngardener1
19 years ago
Shirley - a beautiful garden...don't give up yet! I too have tried egg and water and it works with both rabbit and deer! The eggs spoil and although we cant smell it, they can and they stay away! Another one of my tried and true is pepper flakes! Just sprinkle it around you garden edge and watch - its work a try! If you are getting rid of your hostas, make sure you post them on the Garden Web first - you could make some great trades to put back into your garden - just ask for deer resistant! :0)
buttterflyy
19 years ago
What a beautiful, cool, restful looking garden. I had forgotten how much I missed those woodland gardens with real "rocks". We've been in Florida for over 25 years, but lived in New Gloucester Maine for several years. Our 'farm' was right in the middle of the town wood lot and THE known deer hunting area. We were lucky to have a friend with lots of non book knowledge who suggested getting a couple of bags of spoiled onions from a grocery store to lay on the ground surrounding our vegetable gardenn... and suggested laying a 2-3' chicken wire on the ground around areas we needed to protect from the deer and racoons. We were protected from everything but the bear and our cow who would go through anything to get to turnips. I'm sure you've tried so many things.. we did. Hope these suggestions are some you haven't tried.
Linda