Deer tend to avoid certain plants due to toxicity, strong odors, tough or prickly foliage, or unpalatable textures. Here is a list of plants that deer generally do not eat: Vegetables and Herbs Deer Rarely Eat:

• Rhubarb (toxic to deer)
• Root vegetables like carrots (deer avoid digging)
• Prickly vegetables such as cucumbers and squashes with hairy leaves
• Aromatic herbs with strong odors such as onions, garlic, fennel, chives, lavender, rosemary, sage, thyme, tarragon, lemon balm, and mint
• Globe artichokes, eggplant, peppers, parsley, and leeks

Perennials and Flowers Deer Avoid:

• Bee balm, catmint, salvia, lavender, Russian sage, lungwort, ornamental grasses, hellebores, daffodils, foxgloves, monkshood, poppies, bleeding hearts

Shrubs and Groundcovers Deer Avoid:

• Barberry, boxwood, coralberry, forsythia, juniper, kerria, lilac, Oregon-grape, smoke bush, snowberry, spicebush, spirea, sweet shrub, witch-hazel
• Groundcovers like ajuga, barren strawberry, bergenia, bunchberry, catmint, epimedium, ferns, ginger, Indian strawberry, lamium, lily-of-the-valley, lily turf, lungwort, mosses

Additional Traits That Make Plants Deer-Resistant:

• Plants with strong herbal or citrus scents (e.g., sage, thyme, oregano)
• Plants with fuzzy, hairy, or prickly foliage that is unpleasant to deer
• Plants with leathery or fibrous leaves that are tough to digest (e.g., pachysandra, irises, peonies)
• Ornamental grasses, which deer rarely eat as they prefer forbs and woody shoots

Deer may occasionally eat these plants if food is scarce or in harsh conditions, but generally, these plants are considered deer-resistant and can help minimize deer damage in gardens

. In summary, planting aromatic herbs, toxic plants like rhubarb and monkshood, prickly or hairy-leafed vegetables, and tough-leafed perennials and shrubs can help deter deer from your garden.