Gardens around town

Yards that thrive alongside the deer and other wildlife.

Front yards, hellstrips, and back gardens across Montclair — all accessible to deer and other wildlife, all flourishing.

These gardens aren’t fenced off from the world. They’re open to the street, open to the deer, rabbits, and groundhogs — and they’re blooming.

Every one of these is in Montclair. Some are front yards with no barrier at all; some are hellstrips between sidewalk and curb, the most exposed planting strip a property has. They show what the rest of our yard guide describes: with the right plants, layered densely, a garden can share space with wildlife and still look like this.

Photos taken in July 2026. Click any photo to see it larger. Once you start noticing these, you’ll see them everywhere on a drive around town.

A Montclair front garden, unfenced and flourishing

A Montclair hellstrip of black-eyed Susans running unfenced along the curb

Ornamental grasses and hostas edging an open driveway, no barrier to the street

An unfenced front border of roses and perennials along the public sidewalk

Hakone grass, hostas and hydrangea in a shaded front garden beside the walk

A deep mixed border of shrubs and perennials in front of a Victorian porch

What these gardens have in common

Density over display. Layered plantings with little open ground give deer nowhere easy to browse.
Texture deer avoid. Fuzzy, spiny, and strongly aromatic foliage around the perimeter does most of the work.
Natives doing double duty. The same plants that shrug off browsing feed pollinators and birds.
Accepting some browsing. None of these are untouched. They’re planted so a nibbled stem doesn’t ruin the picture.

The full planting strategy is on our Gardening for coexistence page.

Have a garden like this?

We’d like to add it. Send us a photo and the street it’s on — we’re building a picture of how much of Montclair already gardens this way.

Email montclairwildlife@gmail.com