Deer and Hummingbird Gardens
A recent comment by a reader in the Basics of Attracting and Feeding Hummingbirds inspired this post. Monte lives in an area which enjoys a large native deer population and wants to know if there are hummingbird friendly plants deer will ignore. While beautiful creatures in their own right, many gardners will be quick to warn that Bambi isn’t the most garden-friendly critter in the world.
I elected to write a post rather than answer Monte’s question in the comments because there’s are some questions when it comes to your personal preferences for protecting your hummingbird garden. Do you enjoy having the deer around but want to protect your hummingbird attracting flowers? Would you be content to never see a deer in your garden again (the sound of gardeners applauding this one is almost deafening)? Would you still like them to show up but just graze on the periphery of your garden?
If you would be content to keep deer away entirely, a high fence is your best bet. If you want to maintain an open garden, there are several commercially available deer repellents as well as some sworn-by home solutions. Many gardeners swear by soap (Dial and Zest get good reviews). Deer apparently don’t like the smell. Plant these around the perimeter of your garden. Heavily scented fabric softeners or nylon stocking stuffed with human hair clippings are also reported to keep deer at bay.
If you are content to have deer at the periphery of your garden but not feeding in your garden, consider giving them what they want. Clover and alfalfa at the edges of your yard (peferably near cover so the deer feel safe) will give deer a tempting meal to nibble on which will hopefully deter them from feeling the need to venture further in. Additionally, you can use the soap idea from above but place the bars near your hummingbird flowers but away from other plants you don’t mind the deer grazing on.
To answer your question specifically, though, there are flowers ideal for hummingbird feeding that are considered deer tolerant (more on that term in a minute). You could consider using any of these in combination with the strategy of planting deer-prefered plants closer to the edge of your garden in an effort to keep hummingbirds, deer and nature loving home owner happy.
Perenials
- Bee Balm
- Cardinal Flower
- Dahlia
Annuals
- Flowering Tobacco
Vines
- Cardinal Climber
Now to address the term “deer tolerant.” Regardless what you plant or don’t plant, deer stressed by over population, habitat loss or hunger will bypass just about anything and eat just about anything. Ultimately, a fence is the only assured solution for keeping deer at bay. Please let me know if you try any of these suggestions and how they work out.
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The Right Nectar for Hummingbird Feeding
As mentioned in the section on the Basics of Attracting and Feeding Hummingbirds Hummingbirds have some very specific preferences and needs. While store bought nectars will likely meet your requirements, they can also contain additives that aren’t ideal.
My early experiments with hummingbird feeding involved using a commercial nectar. The product did the job of bringing in the birds but I worry to this day that the red coloring may have been harmful. Though I haven’t found any literature proving conclussively that artificial coloring presents a risk to fragile hummingbirds, it is perhaps best to er on the side of caution and avoid such solutions entirely.
If you choose to use a commercial product for your hummingbird feeding needs, consider avoiding products containing artificial coloring, additives and nutrients. Remember that a hummingbird consumes nectar to fuel its engine for hunting real food. Nectar produced with nutrition in mind might be more harmful than useful (though there’s no proof to back that up, just the perhaps overly-cautious concern of a bird lover).
Any powder nectar mix you might buy is going to require preparation including mixing (and probably boiling) in water. As hummingbird feeding with homemade nectar requires the same steps, you could consider the diy approach as a more economic and more involved way of meeting your hummingbird feeding needs.
To produce a homemade nectar, use only cane table sugar. As noted in Special Hummingbird Feeding Needs you want to use a mixture of about 1 part cane sugar for every 4 parts water but can intensify the mix to 1 part cane sugar for every 3 parts water during migration periods. Those who wish to use other sweetner options should be warned that you might risk driving off your hummingbirds or harming them.
Hummingbird feeding should never include the use of powdered sugar. Also avoid raw sugar as it contains iron which can, over time, prove harmful or fatal to hummingbirds. As mentioned in Basics of Attracting and Feeding Hummingbirds, never use honey as a sweetner. Honey can lead to fungal an microbeal infestations that are fatal to hummingbirds.
Finally, don’t put your hummingbirds on a diet. A hummingbird is always hours away from starvation. They feed on copious amounts of nectar, far in excess of their own body mass, during the day just to provide the energy they need to hunt for the food that keeps them alive. Artificial sweetners such as sacarine may fool the birds into visiting your hummingbird feeding station but will provide absolutely zero calories of burnable energy. A bird fooled into consuming nectar made from an artificial sweetner will likely burn energy it doesn’t have and be unable to hunt for the sustenance it desperately needs to stay alive. So I’ll say it again - NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETNERS!
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Hummingbird Feeding - Picking your Feeder
Glass or plastic, mundane or marvelous, there’s an endless assortment of functional and artistic feeders out there to meet your hummingbird feeding needs. That, of course, begs the question, with so many options available how do I know I’m making the right choice?
In our section on the Basics of Attracting and Feeding Hummingbirds we mentioned the color red. Hummingbirds are readily attracted to the color red as an initial incentive but when it comes to hummingbird feeding, the contents of the feeder are more important than the color. While many commercial feeders contain red in their color schemes, it isn’t absolutely essential. An assortment of feeders, some containing red, would be sufficient to entice the birds to your garden. They’ll make ample use of other colored feeders once they’ve been lured in. Also make note of the color yellow. Bees and wasps are attracted to the color yellow and your objective is to do what you can to keep them away (for reasons explained shortly).
Another consideration is glass over plastic. Glass feeders, while more fragile, offer greater longevity. Remember that an important element of hummingbird feeding is maintaining a clean feeder and that requires regular cleaning. Plastic feeders will more easily accept scratches from cleaning brushes which will accumulate over time. These imperfections in the surface may lead to easier mold growth and result in more frequent cleaning requirements but given the frequent cleanings your feeder will require anyway, it’s probably not a real concern.
Additional thoughts in selecting the right hummingbird feeding station are how accomodating they are to other critters. Ants, wasps and bees are your main concern as these creatures can both foul the sugar water or simply be such a nuisance as to cause your hummingbirds to abandon your offering entirely. While there are ant moat options to deal with the ants, feeders should restrict access to the water sufficiently that a hummingbird’s long beak and tongue can reach but a bee or wasp can’t.
Finally, your own aesthetic tastes come into play. As functional as some low-end feeders may be, they’re hardly pretty. Whether displayed in a beautiful hummingbird garden or hanging promenantly near a window, some folks want the best of both worlds and aspire to both beauty and functionality. Hummingbird feeding is only part of the objective. Another beautiful element to showcase their home or garden is often another. And, trust me on this, some of the handblown glass humingbird feeding stations out there are simply astounding. Just remember, you’ll pay considerably more for a handmade feeder but the look is often worth the price.
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