"The Curious Gardener" presents A Book Give Away--
To enter click here and you'll be entered to win this classic book by celebrated horticulturist Ruth Rogers Clausen, first published in 2011. You can also enter through Instagram (@womansworkco) and Facebook. Enter before midnight on Sunday May 25th.
Conventional wisdom suggests that most of our favorite plants are also the favorites of our four-legged friends. But Ruth Rogers Clausen shows us there are plenty of beautiful plants to choose from that deer don't usually go for. That's why I love this book.
Ruth Clausen's book, published by Timber Press, has a novel rating system for plants that gives a more nuanced view of the subject. A rating of 10 is the most deer resistant, but Ruth Rogers Clausen also includes plants with ratings of 7, 8 and 9, and tells you what level of (minor) nibbling you might expect if you choose those plants. Plants below a 7 are considered mostly ‘deer candy,’ which earn a mention in the book as plants to avoid.
Ruth admits that deer do not always follow the rules and when they’re really hungry all bets are off. So she gives other ideas for deterring them, such as landscaping schemes and plant combinations that work. For instance, she notes that deer will handily jump over a fence less than 8’ high, but they don’t like to jump into a space if they don’t see a safe landing point, so shrubs can be planted to block their view of the inside of your garden. Deer also don’t feel comfortable jumping from level to level so, while sloping ground is not a problem, terracing and berms can be off putting and will deter them from entering an area. When it comes to plant combinations, put a border of something they don’t like (such as boxwood and lady’s mantle) in front of plants that are not as deer resistant. As long as they can’t easily reach over the front border the plants in back will be relatively safe.
Back in 2011 I shot a video with Ruth at White Flower Farm in CT. My mom joined us too. We strolled through the outdoor plant section as she pointed out plants that deer tend to avoid, such as aromatic plants like poppies, alliums and many herbs. Click here to view the video.
Ruth devotes two pages of text plus photos to each of the 50 deer resistant plants that she features. She makes the case that deer resistant plants can be just as showy as the deer candy plants, and even includes Peony on her “50 most beautiful” list, although it gets a rating of 7-10 which means “deer sometimes nip off flower buds but leave foliage alone”. One of my favorite shrubs, purple beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma) is on her list, with a rating of 8-10. 
It’s also nice to see an evergreen that deer seldom browse: Russian cypress.
For each featured plant she gives growing and cultural information, design ideas and companion plant suggestions, which are also deer resistant plants. She includes color photographs taken by nature photographer Alan Detrick. Plants are grouped by Annuals, Perennials, Shrubs, Ferns, Bulbs, Herbs and Grasses. All plants are suitable for USDA Zones 3-7 (except the Annuals she includes). There's a mix of native and non native plants.
Ruth offers some rules of thumb about plants that deer generally don’t like. Fuzzy-leaved plants such as Lamb’s Ear; aromatic plants such as sage, rosemary, ornamental onions, and lilacs; tough, leathery and fibrous foliage such as is found on ferns, ornamental grasses, and pachysandra; spiny or bristly plants such as yucca, rugosa roses, and barberry.
Recently I interviewed Ruth Clausen and asked her how she selected plants to include in her book. Her criteria were plants that are readily available and easy to grow; deer resistant in the 7-10 rating system she devised; and plants that she has personal experience with. She consulted with other horticulturists and growers around the country as well.
As I consider Ruth’s guidelines I am reminded of the spiny yucca in my garden that gets eaten down to the ground each winter, even though it isn’t supposed to be attractive to deer. New growth always comes back, but it just goes to show that there are exceptions to every rule when it comes to deer. As a user friendly guide to help me live with deer, though, I have not found a better resource than this book.
--Dorian Winslow
About Ruth Rogers Clausen
Dorian Winslow with Ruth Clausen at White Flower Farm
Ruth Rogers Clausen's Perennials for American Gardens received the 1990 Quill and Trowel Award from the Garden Writers Association. She has also written for the American Garden guide series: Perennial Gardening with the New York Botanical Garden, Annual Gardening with the Missouri Botanical Garden, and Trees with the Chicago Botanic Garden. Her Dreamscaping was published by Hearst Books. Deer-Resistant Native Plants for the Northeast by Ruth Rogers Clausen and Gregory D. Tepper was published in 2021 by Timber Press.
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