# What is a good privacy bush that deer won't eat? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 9, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-privacy-bush-that-deer-wont-eat/779369 "2017-02-09T02:01:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sara20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@sara20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sara20)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-privacy-bush-that-deer-wont-eat/779369/1 "2017-02-09T02:01:09Z")
I want some privacy bushes for my backyard but we have alot of deer here and they eat the bushes, I have seen neighbors install hedgerows and the deer eat them until they are almost dead. What is a good privacy bush that deer won’t eat? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-privacy-bush-that-deer-wont-eat/779369/2 "2017-02-09T03:00:00Z")
Oleander. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-privacy-bush-that-deer-wont-eat/779369/3 "2017-02-09T03:41:40Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Oleander. Hah, that was my first though. But it depends on where the OP lives. Oleander grows like a weed where I live (in CA), but I’ve never seen it anywhere where it gets really cold in the winter. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-privacy-bush-that-deer-wont-eat/779369/4 "2017-02-09T04:13:38Z")
Yep, you have to give us your climate zone before you’ll get any useful answers. I thought of oleander too. Rhododendron. Yew. The reason deer don’t eat them is that they are poisonous. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-privacy-bush-that-deer-wont-eat/779369/5 "2017-02-09T04:18:14Z")
Bricks. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-privacy-bush-that-deer-wont-eat/779369/6 "2017-02-09T05:38:52Z")
Blackthorn. Deer won’t eat it, forms a stockproof hedge, flowers prettily; requires minimal maintenance, lasts basically forever. Not poisonous so you don’t have to worry about danger to other species (inc. little humans). Opens up possibility of making your own sloe gin. What’s not to like? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-privacy-bush-that-deer-wont-eat/779369/7 "2017-02-09T13:09:10Z")
We have a beautifully landscaped home _and_ we enjoy watching the deer in our yard. Our work-around involves feeding the deer. Every morning we put out 3 - 5 pounds (depending on weather) of shelled corn in a chosen location of our front yard. We can sit and watch the deer and turkeys eating while we sip our coffee. And the deer leave our rhododendrons, oak leaf hydrangeas, decorative grasses, etc alone! ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-privacy-bush-that-deer-wont-eat/779369/8 "2017-02-09T13:55:04Z")
I don’t know what my hedges are made of, but the deer seem to prefer eating my rose bushes. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-privacy-bush-that-deer-wont-eat/779369/9 "2017-02-09T14:46:39Z")
How about [Osage orange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maclura_pomifera) (_Maclura pomifera_)? It’s the first plant I thought of, and [binging](https://www.bing.com/search?q=Is%20Osage%20orange%20deerproof%3F&qs=ds&form=QBRE) “Is Osage orange deerproof?” got [this](http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/sustainable-farming/living-fences-zmaz10onzraw) in the top result: > [@](#): > > Easily propagated from seeds, cuttings, or sprouts from the roots, Osage orange is tolerant of a wide range of soils, resistant to drought, long-lived, and affected little by insects or disease. Planted at a spacing of 1 foot, in four years it makes a fence that is “horse-high, bull-strong, and hog-tight.” On the other hand, Osage oranges are a novelty in most areas, and might attract gawkers. So much for privacy. ---
**Author:** ![sara20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@sara20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sara20)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-privacy-bush-that-deer-wont-eat/779369/10 "2017-02-10T03:55:37Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Hah, that was my first though. But it depends on where the OP lives. Oleander grows like a weed where I live (in CA), but I’ve never seen it anywhere where it gets really cold in the winter. I live in the northeast. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-privacy-bush-that-deer-wont-eat/779369/11 "2017-02-11T01:36:38Z")
I see conflicting info whether deer eat Green Giant Arborvitae. Those suckers grow like gangbusters and, IMO, with minimal trimming can look quite nice. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-privacy-bush-that-deer-wont-eat/779369/12 "2017-02-11T04:40:11Z")
They’ll eat [Japanese Yew](http://www.rexburgstandardjournal.com/outdoors/japanese-yew-claims-eight-elk-near-idaho-falls/article_a58de2f2-ec9a-11e6-9f30-738dcc605507.html) but not very much of it… ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-good-privacy-bush-that-deer-wont-eat/779369/13 "2017-02-11T05:11:11Z")
Deer will actually eat anything in the plant kingdom, if they are hungry enough. So the question is more accurately, “what do deer in my area like the least?” A good place to get the most targeted answers is probably your local nursery. Online I highly recommend the experts at The Garden Web, a simply enormous website. And [here is a link that may be helpful](http://njaes.rutgers.edu/deerresistance/), from Rutgers.