Deer in My Garden, Volume I: Perennials & Subshrubs

After nearly three decades managing Foothill Cottage Gardens nursery and developing demonstration gardens around her home and nursery, Carolyn Singer has more than enough credentials to write this book. She chose not to fence out the deer when beginning her garden in 1977, and has spent the ensuing years observing what they would eat and what they would ignore. She shared plants and compared notes with other gardeners around the country who were equally challenged by deer grazing in their gardens.

Deer in My Garden is more than a mere listing of deer-proof plants, but rather a detailed description (cultural needs, companion plants, etc) of more than one hundred species that have survived in her garden. Complementing this is an appendix, offering additional lists of plants that might be deer proof, but have not been tested sufficiently to be certain, along with a list of plants that commonly appear in other deer-resistant lists but which have been regularly eaten in her garden—proof, again, that deer don’t read these books. Anyone gardening with deer should, however, read this one.

Richard G Turner Jr, editor