I don't know about 'nurse plants' but a lot of herbs seem to be deer resistant in my experience...greek oregano, garden thyme, lavender, rosemary, cilantro, lemon balm, mints, anise hyssop, feverfew, catnip, tansey, and more have survived the white tailed deer in our area and have low
water needs. Most of these are from plant exchange divisions...the oregano, lavender, cilantro, feverfew and anise hyssop are from seed. I like your idea.