Deer-Resistant Design: Fence-free Gardens that Thrive Despite the Deer

by Karen Chapman

“Fear deer no more! The best source I’ve seen on the topic!” —Tracy DiSabato-Aust, award-winning garden designer and best-selling author

Deer are one of the most common problems a gardener can face. These cute but pesky animals can quickly devour hundreds of dollars’ worth of plants. And common solutions include the use of unattractive fencing and chemicals.

In Deer-Resistant Design , Karen Chapman offers another option—intentional design choices that result in beautiful gardens that coexist with wildlife. Deer-Resistant Design showcases real home gardens across North America—from a country garden in New Jersey to a hilltop hacienda in Texas—that have successfully managed the presence of deer. Each homeowner also shares their top ten deer-resistant plants, all welcome additions to a deer-challenged gardeners shopping list. A chapter on deer-resistant container gardens provides suggestions for making colorful, captivating, and imaginative containers. Lushly illustrated and filled with practical advice and inspiring design ideas, Deer-Resistant Design is packed with everything you need to confidently tackle this challenging problem.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

Published July 23, 2019

Reviews

[A_s · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

Informative and unbiased for the most part.

I appreciated that the author used a scale to determine a plants likeliness to be eaten by deer. I also appreciated that she had solid examples where the deer did or didn't follow the scale. She always indicated what worked for one homeowner could get a different result in another area.

I loved the drawn layouts and stats of each property.

The only unrealistic bar that the author set was reviewing, in my eye, rather pricey property designs. There were a lot of pools, spas and yoga pavilions.

[Wendy Rader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book. I wish there were a few zone 3 or 4 gardens highlighted, as our challenges are quite different from the zone 5 and up gardeners.

[Denice Langley · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a fellow gardener who has been frustrated many times lost their gardens to deer, I'm so glad I found this book. I have tried many. many deer control methods and planted many deer resistant plants only to have the deer win every time. I've already seen success with some of the recommendations from Karen Chapman. This book is worth every penny and every minute you take to read it.

[Michelle Mallette · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my full review here.
Snowy weekends are great for planning how to defeat those pesky deer from destroying your garden. This is a great resource available at the Grand Forks & District Public Library. Aimed at gardeners who want to bring beauty that won’t also bring the deer, there are ideas here ranging from invisible fences made with fishing lines to deer repellent and strongly scented plants that deer dislike. Chapman closely examines 13 successful gardens located around the U.S. Each entry includes a quick factbox providing the specific location and garden zone, soil type, property type, and the challenges. There is also a list of the garden’s “top 10” plants at the end of each entry. The big appeal of this book though is in getting advice from other homeowners who have successfully built beautiful gardens where deer are a pest.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.

Just what I had been searching for, a gardening book that had suggestions for keeping deer out of my landscaping and flower beds without the use of ugly fencing.

The photography was great. It was like being on a garden tour of homes.
The suggestions for keeping deer from munching precious plants and shrubs were good. There was even a recipe included for making your own deer repellent spray.

The only disappointment with this book is that it did not include any garden properties below zone five. Thus, many of the plant suggestions were for zones warmer than that. Those of us with northern gardens in zone 3 and 4 have plenty of deer too. Please do another book for us!

[Colette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has good ideas for several different styles and locations. The lists of plants are helpful. At the end is a section with plant ideas for deer-resistant containers. It is set up like a recipe, with a photo of the planted container and descriptions of all the plants in it. I definitely want to keep copies of those pages.

The first thing to do is observe the habits of the deer. Find out their usual paths through your yard. I guess I’ll be getting up super early to figure this out.

I read this on a kindle paperwhite, which is really a terrible idea for any gardening book. I think I would have enjoyed it much more as a hard copy.

[Heidi Bentz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Borrowed from the library last year. Loved the pictures, practical advise, the variety of climates (including two in Michigan!). I appreciated the author's claim that while a plant may not be what deer love to eat, they may still graze it or try it out. I appreciated too that it wasn't just about building fences, spraying plants, etc.
Ended up finding it at a local thrift shop, so now that I'm finally in my own home (with herds of deer and oodles of rabbits), I'll be revisiting this book for sure.

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book about keeping deer out of your growing space. I love how each plant receives a ‘grade’ for how well they perform against deer. Not only does the reader receive information about landscape design for a variety of climates, but also for an abundance of different style homes as well.

Thanks to #NetGalley, I had an advanced PDF to read and review.

*All opinions are my own and I was not required to post a positive review. *

[Keri-Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I live in Canada so this book doesn't really help me but the photographs alone inspired me. The author was very clear describing the different gardens. I would love to see more books on this topic for different areas. Thank you to Timber Press, Netgalley and the author for allowing me to review this advanced copy.

[Polly Krize · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in exchange.

As I live on an island in the Salish Sea full of deer, I was very interested in this book. It contains excellent information on the deer resistance of many plants. The author identifies that we need to co-exist with these beings rather than try to eradicate them from our gardens.

[Kerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Resource

While many of the gardens discussed in this book aren’t in our growing zone, I was still able to gather a list of plants to try in our gardens. We have the added problem of neighbors on both sides having black walnut trees which really limits choice. All in all a good resource book.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually did not finish the book, as it was not quite what I was looking for. This had more to do with flower gardens and not vegetable gardens. Plus, some of the flowers they suggest are considered invasive in the very areas they are featuring. Could use more pics, but maybe that has more to do with the fact I am reading this on my phone.

[Tara B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good book.
It has some basic gardening terms and advice at the beginning.
Then it goes into 12 garden. Each section has many photos and text about the garden. It covers the garden from the very beginning to now with all the ideas. mistakes and struggles.
Really fun read.

[Mary A Schmitzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting

Great ideas. I was looking more for argue Native Plants of Wisconsin. I have resources from this book. Liked the photos and description of plants. No mention of where they r native to.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the stories and descriptions of the various homes and gardens!

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good job of sharing stories and design layout for gardens that have frequent deer guests.

[Diane Niksa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great information, beautiful photos, and plenty of extra inspirational gardening guidelines, stories, and advice.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Handy guide to plant suggestions. Great photos.

[Louise Foerster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will save lives--no longer will an earnest human have to work hard and lose the battle to enjoy beautiful gardens and every living plant to deer. Chapman's intelligent and committed approach is fantastically refreshing. She learned the hard way how to coexist and thrive -- and shares stories, experiences and photographs of other intrepid gardeners who have succeeded brilliantly. I've learned my own hard ways of countering deer and now know ever so much more -- and cherish the fundamental information and inspiration shared in this phenomenal book. Wondrous writer!