Deer-Resistant Hedge Plants

Plants that make a dense hedge and mostly escape deer browsing. Compare growth rate, mature size, and hardiness zone.

Meadowsweet

Armand Clematis

Forsythia Sage

Assam Tea

A clipped hedge only works if the plant regrows from the cut, which rules out a lot of shrubs. There are fast growers here if you need the hedge up in a season or two. Most keep their leaves through winter, which holds the shape of the planting. Bare-root plants go in over winter and settle faster than potted ones.

plants: 218
hardiness zones: 3 to 12

Nothing about a hedge full of deer-resistant plants is plain. There are plants flowering in spring, summer and late autumn, and the final flowers carry the garden into the cold. Most of the colour is white and yellow.

spring: 165
summer: 73
late autumn: 30

Shrubs and perennials do most of the work here, and the range is wide enough that no two plantings need look alike. Viburnum, Ilex and Berberis have the most entries, and they are also used for borders and specimen planting.

shrubs: 198
borders: 149
specimen planting: 123