Deer-Resistant Native Plants for the Northeast

 

Deer-Resistant Native Plants for the Northeast is a tutorial and gardening guide to making gardens less irresistible to deer and similar ruminants. Due out 16th Feb 2021 from Workman Publishing on their Timber Press imprint, it's 220 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats. 

Timber Press is well known for solidly usable gardening and nature tutorial guides and this is another winner. The information is logical, solid, up-to-date, and well arranged in an accessible and logical form. Everyone who has gardened in the northeastern parts of the USA has experienced losses to deer. I haven't met many gardeners who haven't looked forward to a dream harvest and come out to find that the eagerly awaited blooms and veggies have disappeared. 

The native plants and flowers in this volume are not only unpalatable and resistant to depredation by deer but also fill important ecological roles in the garden, providing food, nectar, and habitat to important native species. The selections are all well acclimated to the climate in the northeast and most are indigenous. 

The plant selections are arranged thematically: annuals & biennials, perennials, ferns, grasses, sedges, and shrubs. Each entry contains the name, botanical name, some of the common names, and family in the header. The header info also contains a "deer resistance" rating and some general culture info, zones, native areas, height, and spread. The following descriptions are well written and understandable in plain language. The entries also include companion planting suggestions as well as specific culture info. All the entries also contain a clear close-up photo. 

The book could have included some plant propagation info as well as some more seasonal photographs showing dormant phases but in general the info included in the book is sufficient to make good decisions about choice and siting. There is also a useful cross referenced index included to make information easy to find.

This is a really useful and information dense collection. It would make a superlative choice for library acquisition, garden club library, community garden, smallholding, or similar. Very well done. Four and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.