In October of 2017, Seattle-area designer, author, and speaker Karen Chapman came to Austin to present for my Garden Spark series and to photograph gardens for a new book she was working on. That book has just been published: Deer-Resistant Design: Fence-Free Gardens that Thrive Despite the Deer (Timber Press). I’m delighted to share it with you here because many of you struggle as I do with deer chomping and antlering your treasured plants. And also because my own front garden (the deer-visited portion) is featured in head-swelling detail in a 12-page chapter in the book!

Karen worked hard to make sure her book represents gardens from diverse climates across the country, not just the blessed gardening regions on the coasts. She traveled cross-country to photograph and share 13 case studies: gardens in Texas, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Oregon, and Washington where gardeners and deer have learned to co-exist through trial-and-error design strategies.

So much information about gardening with deer comes down to plant lists — i.e., what plants do deer love, merely like, and only nibble on special occasions? That information is valuable, certainly, but also frustrating, since deer may ignore a plant in one region — or even in one part of town — and devour it in another. Or they don’t eat it, but the bucks will shred it with their antlers during the fall rutting season. Plus, just having a list of deer-resistant plants doesn’t show you how to put them together, taking into account deer movement through the garden, protecting plants from antler damage, or other strategies adopted by gardeners successfully living with deer.

In her case studies — the first two pages about mine are pictured above — Karen aims instead to tell the story of each garden: how it developed, what the owners envisioned, how they dealt with deer damage and adapted to the presence of deer in their pursuit of a beautiful garden. It feels hugely flattering to be included in her book because she lavishes so much attention on each garden’s design, including a beautiful bird’s-eye watercolor rendered in amazing detail by Karen’s daughter, Katie Pond (who didn’t visit, so how did she do that!?).

Each gardener shares his or her top 10 deer-resistant plants, with a description and a deer-resistance ranking grade. Karen also devotes a chapter to deer-resistant container gardens, her own design specialty, which gives ideas for stunning container designs whether you have deer or not. Three of my own front-yard containers are featured in this chapter — all easy one-plant-per-pot numbers, in contrast with Karen’s own lovely multi-plant designs.

Central Texas readers will find several Austin gardens featured in the book, including designer Diana Kirby’s former home garden, landscape architect Tait Moring’s home garden, and one of Tait’s professional designs for a client.

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Digging Deeper

Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!

All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.