Looking for something to plant that any grass or plant ruminant will not destroy? Want to do gardening but fearing deer will nibble it down? The deer is a herbivorous animal and opportunistic feeder. Many gardeners feel frustration after planting beautiful flowers because deer or any other ruminant comes and eats the grasses, plants, leaves, or even flowers. Chrysanthemums (shortly, we say mums) are beautiful flowers, and we often plant them to give our garden a stunning look, but we feel afraid: what if any ruminant comes and eats them? Specifically, we are very worried about do deer eat mums? Unfortunately the answer to this is “yes.”
Do deer eat mums?
Deer are herbivores, as we already said at the beginning, and eat a diverse range of plants, shrubs, and flowers. So, if you are planning to do gardening and trying to find out do deer eat mums,? Stop searching because deer find mums more appealing as dietary plants. Deer consider mums as fine dining items; anything that attracts butterflies, especially mossy kinds of plants, are favorites of deer. They love to eat it.
What deer hates to eat
Any kind of herbs, mostly flavorful kinds of plants like rosemary, basil, mint, or oregano, have a unique smell that a deer simply dislikes to eat. Usually, a garden that has these types of plants in its surroundings, deer avoid entering the garden because these strong odors discourage them.
Deers don’t eat Mum.
Some experts simply refuse to say “yes” to our commonly raised question, Do deer eat mums? The dietary preference of deer changes depending on the season, location, or availability of food items. They completely disagree with the argument. Let’s try to find out what the reason could be.
Deer are resistant to fall perennial mums that are very great to bloom in the fall season. Perennial mums are daisy-type chrysanthemum flowers and usually bloom smaller in size. These are generally hardy mums and regrow when fall comes. But the survival of these plants depends on the location and techniques you are following for planting them.
On the contrary, annual mums don’t grow annually. It dies after a year and usually has thinner, strappy leaves. Now, coming to our argument, do deer eat mums? Some experts are saying “No.” It might be the reason that they are growing perennial mums in their garden and not experiencing the problem of deer feasting on the garden, and that’s why they are claiming deer are not eating mums.
Will Mum grow back?
As we found already, some people are planting perennial mums that are daisy mums and not genetically hybrid forms of chrysanthemum that have the regrowing capacity. They are usually 2-3 feet tall and regrow after cutting or replanting. But if you have annual chrysanthemums, which we usually buy from market are seasonal flowers, and they never regrow.
If you are worried about what will happen with your garden full of beautiful chrysanthemums, stop worrying now and try this deer-resistant mum alternative that is perennial mums. So, here are some simple tricks to planting perennial mums for protecting your garden from deer and saving money too.
- Find an area of the garden that has well-drained soil. Any places with poor drainage systems will leave your lovely perennial mums to die.
- Perennial mums perfectly grow in full sun and prefer to have exposure to at least 6 hours of sunlight per day. Sunlight helps these plants to produce large and strong roots to survive in the winter season.
- Plant these perennial mums in spring and allow them to grow their roots strongly. During July, cut them back to remove the leggy portion. Enjoy its beautiful flower color during fall while it regrows.
- You can use fertilizer with nitrogen and potassium for growing chrysanthemums in your garden. Some prefer to apply ammonia-based fertilizer, such as 20-20-20, for faster growth.
Eco-friendly Solution
Protecting mums from deer is challenging but not impossible. You need toopt eco-friendly solutions for sustainable gardening. You have to understand the behavior of deer and plant in the garden accordingly. Let’s explore what we can adopt to protect our garden.
- Companion gardening
Plant trees that have strong scents like marigold, lavender, rosemary, basil, and mint in your garden. These will create a barrier and discourage deer from making an entry to your garden. Deer or any other ruminant do not prefer to eat any plant having a strong smell. You can also simply plant perennial mums instead of seasonal mums if you are too fond of mums.
- Use of repellents
Some people use eco-friendly repellents like garlic, essential oils, or capsaicin as repellents. You can spray this repellent in the specified quantity on your plant to keep deer away from your garden. The strong odor of these herbal repellents will also protect your plant from pesticides, and these are not harmful.
- Fencing
Make the fencing around your garden around 8 feet tall, and it will prevent deer from coming within your garden. Put the fencing at least 12 inches underground to keep the fence strong and straight above the ground.
Final Thoughts
Deer are herbivorous, and they eat grass, plants, and mums for survival. So you cannot stop them from eating, but you can protect your garden by adopting some easy techniques like fencing, using repellent, or planting daisy mums. It will protect nature and will do beautification of the garden without harming anybody.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Do deer eat mums?
Yes. Deer eat mums as it is one of their favorite foods, and they find it more appealing for its good taste and odorless characteristics.
Q2. What is the alternative to seasonal mum?
One can plant perennial mums instead of seasonal mums. Deer do not prefer to eat this like a seasonal one. It has the redwing capacity, and the plant used to be tall enough.
Q3. How to prevent deer from eating mums?
You can put up fencing, apply repellent, or adopt companion gardening to protect your garden from deer.
