IDAHO FIREWISE LANDSCAPING AND MAMMAL MITIGATION
Deer & Rabbit Resistant Plants for the Home Landscape
Presented by Andrea Dorman Horticulturist & Outreach Coordinator WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE
▪ Locally defined areas ▪ Boise Foothills – 15,831 acres ▪ Valley – 16,173 acres ▪ Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI), defined as areas where homes are built near or among lands prone to wildland fire ▪ Not a place, per se, but a set of conditions https://opendata.cityofboise.org/datasets/wildland-urban-interface-wui- ▪ Wildland fire: brush fires, forest fires, rangeland fires – all part of the WUI
2 SAGEBRUSH STEPPE HABITAT – IMPORTANT PLANT SPECIES
▪ Sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata - sagebrush-dependent wildlife like pygmy rabbits, sage-grouse / slow recovery after fire, often requires restoration efforts
▪ Bitterbrush, Purshia tridentata - many herbivores / sometimes re-sprouts after fire
▪ Gray Rabbitbrush, Ericameria nauseosa - small mammals and birds, food source and habitat / slow recovery after fire
▪ Green Rabbitbrush, Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus - highly palatable to rabbits / vigorously re-sprouts after fire
▪ Netleaf Hackberry, Celtis reticulata - small mammals and birds, perch or roost sites for predatory birds and owls / commonly survives and re-sprouts after fire
▪ Arrowleaf Balsamroot, Balsamorhiza sagittata - deer, elk in winter to spring + birds and small mammals eat the seeds / high fire tolerance
▪ Biscuitroot, Lomatium - early spring pollinators, rare butterflies, sage-grouse habitat due to plant attracting insects / re-seed after fire, important forb
3 SAGEBRUSH STEPPE HABITAT – NATIVE FORBS
▪ Aase’s Onion, Tapertip Onion - Allium
▪ Buckwheat – Eriogonum
▪ Evening Primrose – Oenothera
▪ Globemallow - Sphaeralcea
▪ Lupine – Lupinus
▪ Milkvetch - Astragalus
▪ Phlox - Phlox hoodii, P. longifolia
▪ Pussytoes - Antennaria
▪ Sagebrush Buttercup - Ranunculus glaberrimus
▪ Sego Lily - Calochortus nuttallii
4 SAGEBRUSH STEPPE HABITAT – NATIVE GRASSES
▪ Basin Wildrye - Leymus cinereus Bunch grasses – singular plants in clumps or tufts rather than forming a lawn. Many species have long roots which aid in slope stabilization and ▪ Bluebunch Wheatgrass - Pseudoroegneria erosion control. Native bunch grasses provide habitat and food for insects, birds, and small animals. spicata Link: A Field Guide to Plants of the Boise Foothills ▪ Bottlebrush Squirreltail - Elymus elymoides
▪ Idaho Fescue - Festuca idahoensis
▪ Indian Ricegrass - Achnatherum hymenoides
▪ Need and Thread - Hesperostipa comate
▪ Red Threeawn - Aristida purpurea
▪ Sandberg Bluegrass - Poa secunda
▪ Thurber’s Needlegrass - Achnatherum
thurberianum https://dissolve.com/stock-photo/Bluebunch-wheatgrass-spring-palouse-prairie-rights-managed-image/102-D256-40-750
5 SAGEBRUSH STEPPE HABITAT – USING NON-NATIVES SAFELY
▪ Bulbs - compete for spring moisture from invasive annuals such as cheatgrass
▪ Desert Marigold - Baileya multiradiata
▪ Small Burnet – Sanguisorba minor
▪ New Mexico Privet - Forestiera neomexicana
https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=BAMU
6 SAGEBRUSH STEPPE – INTRODUCED, INVASIVE FORBS
▪ Bachelor’s Button - Centaurea cyanus
▪ Bur Buttercup - Ceratocephala testiculata
▪ Jim Hill Mustard - Sisymbrium altissimum
▪ Leafy Spurge - Euphorbia esula
▪ Prickly Lettuce - Lactuca serriola
▪ Puncturevine - Tribulus terrestris
▪ Redstem Filaree - Erodium circutarium
▪ Rush Skeletonweed - Chondrilla juncea
▪ Russian Thistle - Salsola tragus
▪ Scotch Thistle - Onopordum acanthium
7 SAGEBRUSH STEPPE – INTRODUCED, INVASIVE GRASSES
▪ Bulbous Bluegrass - Poa bulbosa
▪ Cereal Rye - Secale cereale
▪ Cheatgrass - Bromus tectorum
▪ Crested Wheatgrass - Agropyron cristatum
▪ Intermediate Wheatgrass - Thinopyrum intermedium
▪ Jointed Goatgrass - Aegilops cylindrica
▪ Medusahead - Taeniatherum caput- medusae
▪ Ventenata Wiregrass - Ventenata dubia
8 SAGEBRUSH STEPPE – INVASIVE PLANTS, FUEL FOR THE FIRE
9 IF YOU CAN... ▪ Make observations of adjacent WUI areas… seasonal maintenance efforts, evidence of foothill restoration efforts past or present, overall health
▪ Use fencing to mitigate deer
▪ Incorporate plant material into your landscape that is labeled deer and/or rabbit resistant*
▪ Protect plants that are delicacies for deer and rabbits if you can… e.g. new plants, leafy greens - fencing or wire cages
▪ Key goal - create a garden that contains very few mammal favorites… and be OK with occasional visits
*Disclaimer: deer or rabbit resistant plant material is not a guarantee, it is labeled so because it is less desirable than others – no plant is 100% resistant to a hungry animal – something that works for deer may not work for rabbits, and vice versa – each year may be different depending on weather conditions and available food sources for mammals
10 FIREWISE DEER AND RABBIT RESISTANT ANNUALS & BULBS
Plant Name Plant Type Sun/Shade Allium, Ornamental Onion* Bulb Sun, Light Shade Cleome, Rocky Mtn Beeplant Annual Sun Crocus, Crocus Bulb Sun to Part Shade Fritillaria, Fritillaria Bulb Sun, Light Shade Galanthus, Snowdrops Bulb Sun to Part Shade Narcissus, Daffodils Bulb Sun
11 FIREWISE DEER AND RABBIT RESISTANT GROUND COVER
Plant Name Plant Type Sun/Shade Ajuga, Bugleweed Perennial Part Sun to Shade Antennaria, Pussytoes Perennial Sun Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’* Perennial / tall GC Sun Cerastium, Snow-In-Summer Perennial Sun Ceratostigma, Plumbago Perennial Sun or Shade Geranium, Cranesbill Perennial Sun to Part Shade Marrubium, Horehound Perennial Sun Mirabilis, Desert Four O’Clock Perennial Sun to Part Shade Monardella, Scarlet Monardella Perennial Sun to Part Shade Stachys, Lamb’s Ears Perennial Sun to Part Shade Teucrium aroanium, Gray Perennial Sun Creeping Germander* Veronica, Turkish Veronica or Perennial Sun, Light Shade ‘Waterperry Blue’ Vinca, Periwinkle Perennial Part Shade
12 FIREWISE DEER AND RABBIT RESISTANT GROUND COVER
13 FIREWISE DEER AND RABBIT RESISTANT PERENNIALS
Plant Name Plant Type Sun/Shade Agastache, Hyssop* Perennial Sun Aquilegia, Columbine* Perennial Part Shade Baptisia, False Indigo Shrubby Perennial Sun Coreopsis grandiflora, Tickseed Perennial Sun Erigeron, Fleabane Perennial Sun, Light Shade Euphorbia, Cushion Spurge* Perennial Sun, Light Shade Iris, Bearded Iris Perennial, Rhizomes Sun Kniphofia, Red Hot Poker Perennial Sun to Part Shade Leucanthemum, Shasta Daisy Perennial Sun, Light Shade Linum, Flax Perennial Sun to Part Shade Nepeta, Catmint Perennial Sun Penstemon, Beard Tongue Perennial Sun Saponaria, Soapwort Perennial Sun Sphaeralcea, Globe Mallow Perennial Sun Veronica, Speedwell Perennial Sun, Light Shade
14 FIREWISE DEER AND RABBIT RESISTANT PERENNIALS
15 FIREWISE DEER AND RABBIT RESISTANT SHRUBS
Plant Name Plant Type Sun/Shade Arctostaphylos, Manzanita* Shrub Sun Berberis, Barberry Shrub Sun Buddleia, Butterfly Bush Shrub Sun Buxus, Boxwood Shrub Part Shade Chaenomeles, Dwarf Quince Shrub Sun to Part Shade Chilopsis, Desert Willow Large Shrub Sun Cotoneaster, Cotoneaster* Shrub Sun to Part Shade Daphne, Rock Daphne Shrub Sun to Part Shade Mahonia, Oregon Grape Shrub Sun to Part Shade Potentilla, Cinquefoil Shrub Sun, Light Shade Ribes sanguineum, Currant Shrub Part Shade Rhus ‘Gro-Low’ or ‘Autumn Shrub Sun Amber’, Sumac Syringa, Lilac Shrub Sun Yucca, Adam’s Needle/Yucca Shrubby Perennial Sun
16 FIREWISE DEER AND RABBIT RESISTANT SHRUBS
17 DEER AND RABBIT RESISTANT PLANT MATERIAL NOT CURRENTLY BEING TESTED BY IDFW
Plant Name Plant Type Sun/Shade Ageratum, Floss Flower Annual Sun to Part Shade Cercis, Redbud Small Tree Sun Dicentra, Bleeding Heart Perennial Part Shade Geum, Avens Hybrids Perennial Sun Ginkgo, Maidenhair Tree Tree Sun Eryngium, Sea Holly Perennial Sun Heuchera, Coral Bells* Perennial Part Shade Hibiscus, Rose of Sharon Large Shrub Sun Lupinus, Lupine Perennial Sun to Part Shade Monarda, Bee Balm Perennial Sun Pachysandra, Japanese Perennial Ground Part Shade to Shade Spurge Cover Platycodon, Balloon Flower Perennial Sun to Part Shade Spiraea, Spirea Shrub Sun
18 DEER AND RABBIT RESISTANT PLANT MATERIAL – XERIC BUT OILY
Plant Name Plant Type Sun/Shade Sources: Achillea, Yarrow Perennial Sun ▪ Missouri Botanical Garden Chamaebatiaria, Fernbush Shrub Sun ▪ High Country Gardens ▪ Fallugia, Apache Plume Shrub Sun Proven Winners ▪ College, University and Lavandula, Lavender Perennial Herb Sun Extension Sources Perovskia, Russian Sage Perennial Sun Rosmarinus, Rosemary Tender Perennial Herb Sun Salvia dorrii, S. pachyphylla Perennial Sun
Plant Observations –
Is it extremely fragrant when touched? Oil content… How big will it get at maturity? More fuel for the fire… Does it brown out in August? Loss of moisture content, flammable…
Plants that we ‘forgive’ for having some oil content due to low growth habit: Arctostaphylos x coloradoensis, Teucrium aroanium Choose dwarf cultivars, limit numbers, and site carefully: Agastache, Monarda, Salvia
19 SOURCES & HELPFUL LINKS: https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_other/rmrs_2013_ utz_j001.pdf https://kensgardens.com/wp- content/uploads/2016/02/deer-rabbit-resistant.pdf https://cals.arizona.edu/extension/ornamentalhort /landscapemgmt/plantmaterial/deerresistpts.pdf http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens- gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home- gardener/advice-tips-resources/pests-and- problems/animals/deer.aspx https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens- gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home- gardener/advice-tips-resources/pests-and- problems/animals/rabbits.aspx https://www.provenwinners.com/learn/top-ten- lists/12-hardy-deer-resistant-proven-winners- perennials https://www.highcountrygardens.com/plant- finder/deer-resistant-plants
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