Molly and Mel have an average size yard, until you get to the back. There it drops off to a wet weather creek. There's a lot of trees and rocks. There are a lot of flower beds that have lots of plants. It's a really cool place if you like plants. But there are a couple of factors that make it more difficult- First- there are a lot of deer. And Second- there is a lot of shade.
The landscape has been in for some time, and a lot of plants have passed their prime. The freezes over the last few years have taken their toll, and also the drought has made it even that much more difficult.
We got together and walked and talked about what to do. We've got some ideas, and even though the deer reduce the number of varieties we can use, there are still a lot that can be done. Here are some of the plants that can be used.
-Prostrate Rosemary is a great herb that in Central Texas is also a shrub. And deer really stay away from it.
-Bicolor Iris is a standard in landscapes where deer live.
-There are a number of sedges (Carex spp) that will work. This one is Variegated Japanese Sedge, and there are a number of versions of this on the market now, such as Ice Dance, Evercolor, and Feather Falls. They are all pretty similar, so use the one you can find.
-Soft Caress Mahonia will only get about 3' tall and a nice new choice for the deer infested landscapes.
-Gold Dust Aucuba is very hardy and easy to keep under 4' tall.
-Sandankwa Viburnum is a great shrub for sun or shade.
-Giant Leopard Plant is really different and it loves the shade.
-Frances Purple Oxalis with its purple foliage blooms in the spring. It definitely add color to the landscape.
-Coral Bells Heuchera is a perennial that can take the heat, the shade and you have a dozen
choices when it comes to leaf color and flowers.
-Yew Podocarpus-There aren't a lot of deer resistant shrubs that do good in the shade and get big. This one will.
-Mexican Feather Grass only gets about 15" tall.
-Acanthus mollis is great in the shade and it blooms in early summer.
-Red Shrimp Plant blooms all summer.
-Society Garlic is one plant you can smell from a distance, but it blooms all the time.
-Chocolate Chip Ajuga only gets about 3" tall and is very tight and it blooms early in the spring.
-Tuscan Blue Rosemary is definitely an herb but in Central Texas it works as a shrub too.
-Japanese Xylosma is plant that will get big but by shearing it once or twice a year you can keep it under control.
-Variegated Flax Lily only gets about 3' tall in 5 or 6 years.
-Oakleaf Hydrangea does well in alkaline soil and it will get about 6' tall in about 5 years.
-Inland Sea Oats is a host plant for 5 species of butterflies and birds like the seeds it produces.
-Holly Fern is one of two evergreen ferns that do well in Texas.
-Caladiums add color to a shady landscape.
-Blue Plumbago will do good in the shade too.
-Pink Pavonia does better when it gets a little more sun but half a day will work fine.
-Wooly Stemodia is a great ground cover is sun or shade.
-Blue Green Sedge does well in sun or shade.
-Green varieties of sedge goes by a lot of different names. They call this one Irish Green.
-American Beautyberry loads up with purple berries, then looses its leaves in winter. It's a great under story plant.
-Little John Bottlebrush prefers shade. It blooms in mid to late summer.
-Purple Heart Wandering Jew has been around longer than your grandmother, but it's good in sun or shade, and deer don't eat it.
In sunnier areas these add color
-Trey Boy Oleander will bloom from Memorial Day to Thanksgiving.
-Mystic Spires Salvia will do it too.
-Kaleidoscope Abelia has golden variegation and only gets about 3' tall.
A great plant that likes full sun or a partly sunny area is Autumn Sage, or Salvia greggii. There are varieties that bloom lots of different colors. Here are 3:
-Purple
-Hot Pink
-and White
-Mexican Oregano does okay in partly shady areas, and it blooms in the summer.
-Cedar Sage goes wild under cedar trees. But, watch out, some deer do like to munch on it.
-Lamb's Ear only gets about a foot tall and deer usually don't eat it. But, it's so soft, they might like to sleep on a big planting like this one.
-Splitleaf Philodendron does well in sun or shade, and if it doesn't freeze back in the winter, it can get pretty big.
-Xanadu Philodendron likes sun or shade and will stay smaller, and it has twice as many leaves.
-Foxtail Fern is an asparagus fern.
So, there are a lot of great plants that deer don't eat. But, deer often eat plants that are on the Deer Resistant list. Especially when the herd it big, or their normal food is scarce. So, before you spend too much on plants, put a few samples out and see what happens. Quite often they will nibble on it to see what it's like. And if you have a lot of deer, just a nibble by a lot of deer will destroy the plant. And deer don't have a good memory. Next week they might try it again.
Good Luck!
That’s it for now. Thanks for stopping by.
Comments