Deer Resistant Plants

If a deer is hungry enough it'll eat almost anything we sell. That's not us being gloomy, it's what every extension service says. But some plants get hit a lot less than others, and a few are rarely touched. We pulled the deer ratings from 34 university extension services, wildlife agencies, plant databases and nurseries, matched them to what we grow, and graded each plant. Then we gathered what the research says about keeping deer off the fruit trees they love.

6 ftHow high deer browse, according to MSU Extension1. Anything below that line is on the menu.
8 ftThe standard deer-proof fence: woven wire, 8 ft tall (Colorado State)6.
60%The most the best repellents cut browsing in the studies MSU reviewed1. They help, but they don't stop deer.
13 of 46Plants we sell that the research grades as rarely or seldom badly damaged.
"Remember, no plant is completely deer proof, as a hungry deer will consume almost any plant!"MSU Extension MontGuide, Deer-Resistant Ornamental Plants for Your Garden2

How our plants rate

Tap a color to jump to that group. Each card shows our grade, the plants we have for sale, and exactly what each source says.

492310
Rarely botheredSeldom badly damagedSometimes damagedDeer favorite: protect it
No data yet

We couldn't find a published rating

No university or agency list we found rates these. We'd rather tell you that than guess. If you grow them around deer, we'd love to hear how they do.

What each source says

Every dot is one source's rating, placed on the same four-step scale. The black bar is our grade. Montana and Rocky Mountain sources count double, since they deal with mule deer and our whitetails. Hollow dots are ratings for a close relative (like European mountain ash) and aren't used in the grade. Tap a row to see the wording.

MontanaRocky Mountain & WestPlains & MidwestEast & nationalClose relative

Protecting the fruit trees deer love

Apples, plums, cherries, pears, raspberries and strawberries land in the "protect it" group on nearly every list. That doesn't mean you can't grow them in deer country. It means you plan for deer from day one. Here's what the research says works.

Diagram of a young fruit tree inside a 5 ft wire cage set 3 to 5 ft from the trunk, with deer browse reaching 6 ft and buck rub damage 1.5 to 3.5 ft up the trunk. 6 ft browseline Cage 5 ft tall (taller if you get deep snow) 3 to 5 ft from trunk Buck rub zone 1.5 to 3.5 ft up the trunk
Montana FWP recommends a cage 5 ft tall set 3 to 5 ft out from a fruit tree5. MSU says browse reaches about 6 ft1, and Minnesota suggests cages reach 6 ft above your usual snow depth18. Iowa State puts buck rub damage 1.5 to 3.5 ft up the trunk28.
Fence heights and how many deer clear them, from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks: 5 ft easily jumped, 6 ft many clear it, 7 ft some clear it, 8 ft a very few clear it. 5 ftEasily jumped6 ftMany clear it7 ftSome clear it8 ftA very few clear it
How high deer jump, in Montana FWP's words5. Colorado State calls 8 ft of woven wire the conventional deer-proof fence6. FWP adds that two 5 ft fences set 4 to 5 ft apart also work, because deer can't do the high jump and long jump at once.

How much does each method cut browsing?

Percent reduction in deer damage. These come from different studies under different deer pressure, so read them as ballpark numbers, not a head-to-head test.

Plastic mesh deer fence (7.5 ft)29
60 to 98%
Best repellents tested1
up to 60%
Thiram (winter)1
43%
Tallow soap bars hung in trees1
38%
Human hair bags1
35%
Milorganite1
about 30%

Minnesota Extension puts it plainly: "A 50 percent reduction in deer browse is very successful; a 30 percent reduction is a more likely result."18

When deer do the damage

Months are our Montana translation of the seasons each source describes.

J F M A M J J A S O N D
Winter browse on buds and twigs11
Spring new growth (the peak)18
Leaves, flowers and fruit1
Buck rubs on trunks18

A deer plan for fruit trees

1. Fence if you can

Fencing is "the only sure way to control deer damage," says Colorado State6. Go 8 ft with woven wire. If you'd rather go electric, Montana FWP suggests a wire 18 in. off the ground and a second at 40 in., at 4,000 volts or more5. Raintree Nursery reports an 8 ft woven wire fence has worked best for them33.

2. Or cage every tree

Wire cylinders 5 to 6 ft tall, anchored well, 3 to 5 ft out from the trunk5,28. Stark Bro's makes theirs from 5 ft concrete reinforcing wire held with a T-post32. Keep them up until the lower branches are out of reach. Purdue figures young trees need protection for about 5 to 6 years29.

3. Guard trunks by mid-August

Bucks rub velvet off their antlers in late summer and fall. Iowa State says barriers need to be up by mid-August28, and Minnesota says to keep them on August through December18. Stakes should be no more than 18 in. apart. Rubbing drops off once trunks reach 3 to 4 in. across28.

4. Use repellents as backup

In a USDA Forest Service test of 20 products on black-tailed deer (a mule deer subspecies), none stopped browsing for the full 18 weeks. Deer Away Big Game powder did best, then Plantskydd. Repellents with a sulfur smell (like the egg-based ones) and ones applied right on the plant did best30. Reapply after rain and on new growth1. Colorado State's homemade version is 20% whole eggs and 80% water6.

5. Plant smart

Put the deer favorites inside the fence and the tougher plants outside it. MSU notes young, freshly planted and well-fertilized plants get hit hardest1, so the first few years matter most.

6. Don't feed them

Feeding deer is illegal in Montana. FWP says it makes deer dependent, draws in mountain lions, and can leave you liable for damage on your neighbors' property5.

Mule deer or whitetails? Both live across Montana. Mule deer have a white rump and a black-tipped tail; whitetails have a brown rump and a tail that's white only underneath1. NRCS in North Dakota notes whitetails favor oaks, apples, hawthorns, walnuts and all Prunus (plums, cherries, apricots), while mule deer browse more pine, skunkbush sumac and juniper16.

How we graded

One scale for every source

Sources use different scales. We lined them up on four steps: rarely damaged, seldom badly damaged, sometimes damaged and frequently damaged. Three-step scales (like Colorado's rarely, sometimes and often browsed) map to steps 1, 2.5 and 4. A plant that's simply on a "deer resistant" list counts as step 2.

Montana counts double

Our grade is the weighted middle (median) of every rating for that plant. Montana and Rocky Mountain sources count twice, since they're based on mule deer and western conditions. Eastern lists like Rutgers and Cornell are based on white-tailed deer in the Northeast.

Close only counts if it's close

A rating for a relative (European mountain ash, English hawthorn, flowering quince) isn't used when we have ratings for the plant itself. Mountain ash is the one exception, since no one rates the American species. When there are four or fewer ratings and they disagree sharply, we call it "sometimes damaged" rather than pick a side.

Your deer may differ

Colorado State notes "a plant species may be damaged rarely in one area but damaged severely in another"6. MSU adds that resistance varies with available forage, deer density and how close you are to deer habitat1. Use these grades as odds, not promises.

Sources

Every rating on this page comes from one of these. Checked September 2026.

  1. Beaver, Vantassel & Saeed. Minimizing Deer Damage in Residential Settings. MontGuide MT202308AG, Montana State University Extension, 2023. Link
  2. Moore-Gough, C. Deer-Resistant Ornamental Plants for Your Garden. MontGuide MT199521AG, Montana State University Extension, updated 2019. Link
  3. Hill, C. & Knight, J. Minimizing Deer Damage to Residential Plantings. Montana State University Extension, Animal & Range Sciences. Link
  4. Montana Nursery & Landscape Association. Deer Resistant Plants: Ornamental. Plant Something Montana. Link
  5. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Living With Deer. Link
  6. Swift, C.E. & Gross, M.K. Preventing Deer Damage. Fact Sheet 6.520, Colorado State University Extension, rev. 2025. Link
  7. Colorado State University Extension. 2302: Deer-Resistant Plants. PlantTalk Colorado. Link
  8. CSU Extension El Paso County. Native Plant List for Deer Resistant Plants, 2022. Link
  9. Schwender, M. & Kuhns, M. Preventing Deer Damage to Your Trees and Shrubs. Utah Forest Facts NR/FF/022, Utah State University Extension, 2013. Link
  10. Lauritzen, E., Maughan, T. & Black, B. How to Grow Haskap (Blue Honeysuckle) in Your Garden. Utah State University Extension. Link
  11. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Minimizing browsing damage by deer (mule deer yard study, 1979 to 1981). Link
  12. Detweiler, A.J. & MacMillan, P. Deer-resistant plants for Central Oregon. EM 9661, Oregon State University Extension, 2012 (reviewed 2025). Link
  13. WSU Extension Spokane County Master Gardeners. Deer Resistant Plants, C063, rev. 2021. Link
  14. Washington State University. Vertebrate: Deer damage. Hortsense. Link
  15. USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System species reviews (Johnson 2000; Esser 1995; Fryer 1997; Simonin 2000; Scher 2002; Populus tremuloides). Link
  16. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, North Dakota. Protecting Trees and Shrubs From Deer. Link
  17. Zeleznik, J. Nanking Cherry. North Dakota State University Extension. Link
  18. Loegering, J.P. & Witt, M.E. How to manage deer damage on trees and other plants. University of Minnesota Extension. Link
  19. Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Lonicera caerulea; Shepherdia argentea. Link
  20. Perdomo, P., Nitzsche, P. & Drake, D. Landscape Plants Rated by Deer Resistance. E271, Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension (searchable list, 527 plants). Link
  21. Curtis, P.D. & Richmond, M.E. Reducing Deer Damage to Ornamental and Garden Plants. FS 3311, Cornell Cooperative Extension, rev. 2018. Link
  22. North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, NC State University (species pages). Link
  23. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of Texas at Austin. Native Plant Database (species pages). Link
  24. Kentucky State University. Pawpaw Planting Guide. Link
  25. Taylor, D. et al. Native Fruits: Pawpaw. Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Link
  26. Bulatovic-Danilovich, M. A New Old Crop (Elderberry). West Virginia University Extension. Link
  27. Reich, L. So Many Fruits, So Little . . . ? (2015). Link
  28. Steil, A. How to Protect Trees and Shrubs from Animal Damage Over Winter. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Link
  29. McKenna, J. et al. How to Build a Plastic Mesh Deer Exclusion Fence. FNR-486-W, Purdue Extension, 2014. Link
  30. Trent, A., Nolte, D. & Wagner, K. Comparison of Commercial Deer Repellents. USDA Forest Service Tech Tip 0124-2331-MTDC, 2001. Link
  31. Craven, S.R. & Hygnstrom, S.E. Deer. In Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage, Univ. of Nebraska / USDA APHIS, 1994 (hosted by MSU Extension). Link
  32. Stark Bro's. Keeping Deer Off Your Fruit Trees. Link
  33. Raintree Nursery. Growing guide (pest table). Link
  34. One Green World. Deer resistant product tag. Link

Planning an orchard in deer country? Check zone hardiness and our pollination maps too, then get in touch if you have questions. We're happy to help you pick plants that fit your site.