Learn how to get rid of rabbits and keep them out of your garden with these tips.
Why Would You Keep Rabbits Away?
Anyone who tills the soil regards the rabbit as more than a cute threat to the carrot patch. This long-eared animal possesses a voracious appetite for all kinds of fresh vegetation—woody plants, perennials, annuals, vegetables, and berries. In fact, a menu of rabbit favorites is so ridiculously long that it’s easier to list the few plants they don’t enjoy.
Rabbits also have an extremely high reproductive potential, which is why keeping them around might quickly cause a total garden infestation. They reach up to three litters of six babies each per year in the north, and up to six litters of three babies each per year in the south. The first litter appears in March in the north, year-round elsewhere. The gestation period is 29 days.
Your backyard bunny’s primary concern is to eat without being eaten, a difficult task given that rabbits are relished by more than two dozen species of predators. Nibbling your petunias is therefore not a carefree picnic but a danger-fraught mission. However, if your neighborhood bunny can squeeze through a hole in your garden fence, it will be able to munch in safety.
You can check our tips for keeping your plants safe from rabbits, but try to regard rabbits as Beatrix Potter did—part of a peaceful, pastoral landscape. Then protect the plants that you and the bunnies really love, and don’t worry about the rest.
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rabbits
I'm pretty well at the point of just sharing my yard with the one rabbit I have seen.I have a small woody back forty behind my garage and the neighbour keeps rabbits for selling afterwards, in cages on his property. This rabbit hasn't ate anything in my vegetable garden, he has in my neighbor's yard.I think the only reason this cottontail is over here is to hide from the neighbours's dog. He doesn't bother me, I don't bother him, Have scared the crap pout of each other when I walk outside and I don't see him and he isn't expecting company. The squirrels on the other hand I am sick of being in my garden, wouldn't be too bad if they ate just one thing but they are nibblers and like to try a little of everything.My question is are rabbits afraid of squirrels or the other way around?
Rabbits and Squirrels
Hi Debbie,
Neither animal is scared of the other. To deter squirrels from eating vegetables and fruit in your garden, try hanging up packets of fox urine or spreading it around the garden. If there are a lot of squirrels, another good way to further deter them is to remove all other attractors: Move trash bins into the garage at night, take in bird feeders and bird baths, and put compost into a sealed bin.
Rabbits
I have a rabit nest in my Oregano bush inside of my 2 foot tall raised bed. I want to move them but I really don't want to kill them. The babies are about the size of a large fist.
voracious rabbits
We put up a cedar fence and rabbits simply chew holes through that. There are baby bunnies all over and during night just eat everything! I don't want to enclose my whole garden in chicken wire. Am going to try a live trap... What is a good,safe chemical deterrant around vegies? So frustrated I want to cry!
A Repelling Topic
Hi, Mary: We feel your pain, having been nibbled more than a few times ourselves! The best thing we can recommend–other than cage wire, which you don’t seem to want–is to carefully go through all of the possible solutions suggested above and see what works (actually, it is often a combination that does it). Have you tried a radio in the garden? Or perhaps an organic deer repellent? Sometimes chopped up human hair works as a barrier (from a barber shop or salon). You don’t say how big your area is, but seriously, a metal fence is the tried-and-true solution. Thanks for asking, and good luck!
chicken wire
Didn't take me long to realize that I needed 2 ft x 1inch chicken wire when I moved to a new house with a rabbit population in the neighborhood.
Rabbits!
Dried fox urine, repeated a few times per plant, works quite well!
Rabbits
Keep rabbits out with coyote rabbit call
Rabbit vs Flowers
Snapdragons are a very delicate flower and rabbits love mine. One thing that has helped besides I do use chicken wire & plant as many things as I can now in hanging or"lifted"items....Look for for flowers with spikey stalks. That hasn't always helped with my squash..but as for flowers try ones such as Cosmos...I have yet to lose one! I still use marigolds around veggies/some years has worked well when I've lost veggies I didn't.But I have had good luck with prickly stemmed flowers.
rabbit deterrent?
would a 75% or 100% simple green spray around help as well as have a heart traps help
keeping out rabbits
Repellents and sprays can work if you could direct rabbits to eat something else nearby, but if the rabbits have already targeted a particular crop, they can have limited effectiveness. Fencing or coverage with garden fabric may be necessary.
I got bird problems
I see lots and lots of rabbits but my problem this year is defiantly the birds. They are digging up my onions, cucumbers, squash, watermelon, radishes and now my pepper seedlings. I liked the one girls comment where what works for one might not work for another but lets keep trying ha ha.
Keeping pests out of the garden
Hi Jennifer, Though this article is about rabbits, see our article devoted to keeping certain birds ouf of the garden.
Marigold and snapdragons - they ate them ALL !
You state in your article that rabbits don't eat and can be deterred by marigolds and snapdragons ... well 3 years in a row now those are their first and favorite plants to eat down to the ground !
So I would suggest editing where you state " Rabbits are deterred by some of the same plants as deer and Japanese beetles. If you’d like to control all these bests, check our list of deer-resistant plants and best and worst plants for Japanese beetles to know which plants will do best. Choose plants such as forsythia, lilac bush, marigolds, zinnias, daffodils, lavender, and snapdragons for rabbits. This will reduce your rabbit population."
As clearly it's incorrect information.
-from an unhappy gardener with no more marigold or snapdragon plants!
Marigolds and Snapdragons
Hi Bonnie,
We’re sorry to hear about your marigold and snapdragon plants. We do state that rabbit preferences can vary. Marigolds and snapdragons are sometimes not appetizing to rabbits, and planting them has worked for many people. However, a hungry rabbit will eat almost anything, and it appears that the rabbits love your garden. Growing plants that are not very appetizing to rabbits is meant to hopefully keep them away, but we do state that the most sure-fire way to keep rabbits away is to put up a fence. Based on your feedback, we have made the language more clear in that section to indicate that this is not a guaranteed solution and that rabbits have varying tastes. We would recommend putting up a fence or trying some of our other tips to stop this damage from happening again. Thank you for your feedback, and good luck!
Knockout Roses
We live in the mountains close to Lake Tahoe. Knockouts grow well and thrive in most gardens. I planted 10 plants last summer, covered them with pine needles and mulch over the winter - they sprung right back in spring and were getting buds in early June. Then the rabbits came. I put up a fence (not chicken wire as it's so ugly - probably a big mistake). Got anti-rabbit stuff from Home Depot, used cayenne pepper - you name it. I have two big Siberian Samoyeds who love everyone and everything - they chase a rabbit but it isn't serious business for them. So now I'm taking the plants out - probably give them away. Sometimes we forget that we share all this natural beauty with other living things! Anyway, will probably put in salvia. Ugggg.
Rabbit eating my garden.
I have a problem with a rabbit eating the tomatoes in my garden. I have seen the rabbit before and all the damage left to the garden fits the discretion of what a rabbit would do. I also have Parsley and Basil in my garden. Is there an explanation for this.
Thanks.
rabbit food
Some rabbits will eat tomatoes and other plants that the species normally avoids. Sometimes this might have to do with the availability of other food – when it is scarce, some might go for less preferred fare. Most of the tomato plant is not good for the animal to eat, but the fruit is edible. You might try spreading dried blood (available in garden centers) around your tomato plant to deter the rabbit, or surround your plants with chicken wire, at least 2 feet tall (3 feet is better), with the bottom buried a few inches into the soil. Eliminate any brush piles on your property, which rabbits like.
Rabbit under pool concrete patio
I have a problem rabbit nest I have to get rid of. This giant rabbit has made a burrow underneath our inground pool concrete pad. It’s totally damaging this area and despite our best efforts to keep it away…it’s frantically trying to get back in. I can only assume it has babies in there, but the hole is so deep there’s no way to tell for sure. We’ve decided to let the potential babies grow and leave the nest before trying to seal off the area for good…I just don’t know when that will be. I’d hate to seal them in there!!! When is the best time for me to do this? It’s now end of May, no baby bunnies in sight but we’ve spotted the large (we assume) female. I’d prefer not to harm them, but I really need them gone. They’ve been burrowing in this spot for years I am told by the previous house owner, but I want them gone. Wouldn’t mind them anywhere else in the backyard, but the damage they’re starting to cause in this spot could be $$$ for me. Help!
P.S. I have a dog, I have a fenced yard, I tried sealing the hole with thick garden plastic liner and dirt, and I don’t want to shoot it or harm it…even though it’s an a-hole lol.
Hi Abby,
Hi Abby,
Sorry, we are not rabbit experts. Trapping and removing the rabbit is one option. You can also call a local animal control officer for advice. Here are a couple of websites with some information about wild rabbits.
wildlifeanimalcontrol.com/rabbits.html
rabbitmatters.com/wildrabbits.html
humanesociety.org/animals/rabbits/tips/solving_problems_rabbits.html
fans
What kind of rabbit suitable for small gardens
Deter rabbits
Moth balls or moth crystals work. Sprinkle in & around the holes(usually more than 1) in replace fill.
rabbits
I tried moth balls they eat those too! I planted liliac bushes they do nothing!
Eats everything
The list above shows that Rabbits dont like
HERBS
Basil
Marjoram
Mint
Oregano
Parsley
Savory
Tarragon
Unfortunately, the rabbits ate everything listed above. To the ground!! So, chicken wire was the only thing that worked. The blueberries, potato plants, my entire herb garden, just to name some of the destruction. Then they even ate the apples that dropped from the tree. We had to add chicken wire to the orchard as they were getting the trunks of the trees. Our property is not fenced. Nor is the any of the neighbors. So the rabbits come and go as they please between all of us. They have dens everywhere. The colonies are growing by the day it seems. I can't bring myself to have them destroyed. So I live with them.
Wascally Wabbits!
I have found that fencing around my sapling shrubs and trees keep rabbits from chewing them to death, and for flowers and herbs, the rabbits around here don't like basil or foxglove. They have left the tomatoes alone as well. Bloodmeal worked too, but I didn't want to pour too liberally until the plants got an overload of nitrogen. So for me, using multiple strategies at least keeps my garden going.
Toilet paper rolls as collars
Toilet paper rolls as collars around stems and they hate pinwheel. 1 1/2 tbsp neem oil in gallon water with tsp soap pour around plants for larvae. Spray leaves with solution for spider mites. Make tea with water and cedar chips or planks. Brew 24 hrs strain spray leaves for Japanese beetles. Dusty mildew 10% milk in water i use sponge squeeze all over foliage once a week. Diatinaceous powder slices soft belly insects circle plant e.g., slugs etc. Lots of cayenne pepper for squirrel etc but cover up well or you will discover true meaning of fire. Wear a dust mask so u don't inhale. Those are some of the things that work for me.
Cold Upper Michigan Weather
Cold Upper Michigan Weather slowed down my gardening in the past 2 yrs. I started my plants in a small green house which I then made into a garden by putting chicken wire over the pipe skeleton. on colder evenings I put the top/tarp back on and take it off during the day. Now rabbits, cats and deer stay away from my plants and things are now finally growing and ripening as they should. I think Im going to have to get a bigger green house :)
We use them for target
We use them for target practice. Problem solved!
Can u give my a way to keep
Can u give my a way to keep out armodillos?
Rabbits may not like Tomato
Rabbits may not like Tomato plants, however the baby rabbits that I have a problem with love the tomatoes themselves. This is the first year I have ever attempted to plant anything and every single time I get a tomato getting close to red, it winds up with chew marks out of it. I keep chasing very young rabbits out of the garden. I know I should have put up chicken wire, however I'm probably too late at this point. A big learning lesson for next year for sure!
Everyone needs to buy a
Everyone needs to buy a pellet gun... Problem solved. I've tried it all. This is the only thing that works... Sorry but it's survival of the fittest. Or your feeding everything but yourself. It is the last resort. Spend hundreds of dollars trying then you'll understand... Besides they'll be back next year!
rabbit troubles
rabbits are terrible, after we got snow they have been eating everything, they have been distroying all my shrubs which it has taken years to get to a stage i could call them a shrub, they even ate the wire to the starter silinoid on my car which cost me $300 (towing to a repair place,diognosting, labor ,they arn't cheep having around
The wire eating was probably
The wire eating was probably rats. They will crawl up onto your tires and chew on your wires.
I have a back yard flower bed
I have a back yard flower bed area, which I think previous owners of our home might have attempted to garden. It is terribly overgrown with wild mint ... Every inch of the soil, is literally covered with it, except for 2 mulberry bushes, that somehow prevailed the front perimeter of the garden. I have planted my first baby pumpkin plant this week & have erected a fine mesh wire fence, anchored to the ground with metal stakes around it, hoping to protect the early stages of the plant's life - only 3 sprouts so far. The other wild-growing plant I found that I thought was a weed, appears to be onion grass? The tall blades appear sporadically & randomly in the garden, mostly because all the mint is hiding them. Aware of the bunny, groundhog, squirrel, & deer population that exists in my area, could the wild onion grass also be a natural deterrent for the animals that otherwise would want to eat the pumpkin plant? I was trying to weed the overgrown mint & onion grass, thinking they were weeds, to create more space in the garden for the pumpkin plant to grow ... But, now I am considering leaving a perimeter of these plants around the garden, hoping to hide the presence of a new garden, & hopes of reclaiming the land for better use with other veggies in the future.
Try human hair clippings from
Try human hair clippings from the salon...
I have used it successfully for rabbits, skunks, groundhogs,and squirrels. Just be sure you have short pieces. Coloured blonde hair will turn green eventually. I use brown. No worries with animals thinking it is a snack!
Hello, I was wondering why
Hello,
I was wondering why you recommend 'short pieces' of hair? What would the length matter ? Thanks.
Don't think length matters. I
Don't think length matters. I used hair from our hair brushes to rid a racoon. By stuffing it in his hole.
We went on holiday and on our
We went on holiday and on our return rabbits had eaten all the young herbs including garlic and others on the list of those they dislike. Also daffodils and heathers. It seems they eat any tender growth. Spraying a solution of calcium chloride and calcium oxide over vegetation and soaking the lawn results in a bitter taste that deters them. A high powered air rifle is also very effective, but make sure you get a direct hit!
I am a newer garden grower of
I am a newer garden grower of my own. This is my first full year of growing with a small space urban environment to grow in with a huge rabbit population. Had a lot of trouble at the start with the young vegetation. I first started with putting chicken wire around half cause the other half had chain link fence. Now they have resorted to squeezing through the chain link fence. I have to small dogs and they love chasing them. My garden size is 4'x 30'(limited on space). We started with (6)larger sized tomatoes, (6)roma, (4)carrots, (4)bell peppers, (4)sweet peas, (4)cucumbers, (4)zucchini, (4)yellow squash, (4)yellow beans, (4)bush beans, (4)green beans, (4)broccoli, (4)basil and (1)spear mint.
RABBITS ate (1)broccoli, (1)carrot, (4)sweet peas, (1)cucumber, (1)zucchini and now they are hiding under the tomatoes and taking bites out of the ripe fruit. So as for the above list of disliked vegetation it blows that out of the dirt. LOL
I will have to try onions next year.
The bunnies are eating the
The bunnies are eating the wicker off the furniture on my deck. They climb two steps, come onto the deck and when we are not there, munch away. We placed mothballs only to see them trot right over them. Also tried ammonia soaked rags and spray furniture with Lysol, to no avail. Every week we find a new hole dug under the deck [we have filled previous holes with mothballs and rocks, now there is one going under the house!
Rabbits need to chew a lot
Rabbits need to chew a lot because their teeth grow constantly. They are probably attracted to the wicker since it is similar to wood twigs. You might try placing a large pile of twigs similar in diameter to your wicker nearby on the lawn. Also, you might try rabbit repellents such as sprinkling dried urine of predators (available at garden centers); scattering fur of a dog or cat around the area (replenish every so often); or installing motion-detector sprinklers (available online, such as from Havahart). Depending on the layout of the deck, you might also consider fencing (which can also help to keep the animals from setting up shop under your deck).
Although it was once a common home remedy to use mothballs to repel wildlife (indoors or outdoors), it is no longer recommended. Mothballs can be toxic to beneficial insects, animals (including pets), and humans (especially children), and will leach chemicals into the soil. They contain pesticides and are meant to be enclosed in a small airtight space indoors to control insects that eat natural fibers; if used outdoors, their fumes will dissipate (which might be partly why the rabbits trotted right over them).
Hope this helps!
Parsley does not deter
Parsley does not deter bunnies - it's an aphrodisiac & they are all over it. That's the first thing they go for in my garden (I have two pet rabbits & was looking at things NOT to use trying to deter cats that foul in my garden). The second thing is mint, they love it! Also, my Yucca & the primroses.
Hope that helps :-)
I have rabbits, groundhogs,
I have rabbits, groundhogs, chipmunks, squirrels and who knows what else. The rabbits live in the garden - I watch my step so I don't step on the babies. The trick I have found to be most effective is to provide plenty of food for the animals as well as for myself. They like a lot of the plants we call weeds so let some weeds grow, especially when the veggies are just getting started. I do put chicken wire around my peas but 2' high is enough to send the rabbits to easier pickings. I don't know if the resident rabbits won't allow newcomers or why it is that the rabbit population stays about the same from year to year. Anyway, we get along - I just expect to find a few things munched on. Also, I don't discourage the few snakes that live in the yard. Nature will keep a good balance if we don't get in the way.
Amen to living in harmony
Amen to living in harmony with the rabbits! Someone shot a baby bunny and he is now healing and hiding out in my yard, and yes he has helped his self to my green bean plants! We r the smart ones and if you don't use a fence then you'll be sharing, not killing!
A rabbit ate a jalapena
A rabbit ate a jalapena pepper right off my plant today. You wouldn't think they would even like them.
The only thing I found to
The only thing I found to deter rabbits is cats. Started feeding 2 stray kittens & they stuck around. Mom now has a litter of 4 kittens & no rabbits or mice in site. I bought many different color coral bells to plant as I understand a deer & rabbit would starve before they would eat them.
Last year my tulips were
Last year my tulips were demolished be rabbits despite being surrounded by chives, covering in red pepper flakes, and finally using a horribly nauseating repellant. This year I figured would be the same but as I had several dinner parties and large family meals, my chives were trimmed every few days while the tulips were young. The bunnies didn't touch my flowers. They look great! My guess is that the strong smell of
the freshly trimmed chives all around the tulips
spoiled the bunny fun. Yay, finally a point on the gardener's side!
I have about 4 baby rabbits
I have about 4 baby rabbits and a very small backyard so we let them ran around, they got into the Basil plant and ate about half of it, over the last 3 day they have been dying one by one, would this be why?? I hate going into the backyard and founding them like this, what could be it???
Are you referring to the
Are you referring to the basil dying? Yes, rabbits eat basil! We're not sure what to say here. Move the rabbits or move the basil.
GMO plants may contain pest
GMO plants may contain pest control properties... rabbits and insects both fall in "the animal kingdom" so I hope it wasn't GMO basil that did this :-( this would mean it would be potentially harmful to humans as well! Also, rabbits can "scare to death" by as much as a dog barking at them. Are there any stressor that could have caused them harm?
Barely any plants are GMO.
Barely any plants are GMO. Basil is not one of them. There are so few GMO foods, that no popcorn varieties are GMO whatsoever--and regular corn is one of the few crops that sometimes is GMO, along with canola, and soybean.
aren't you afraid of Mad Cow
aren't you afraid of Mad Cow from Blood and Bone meal. I know a person who's dad was a gardner and had died from Kreutzfeld/Jakob from just such fertilizers. dreadful.. There is no guarantee that when our own parents used such fertilizers that we aren't going to be subjected to such a fate as well. is Alzheimers really growing or is it bovine spongiform encephalopathy on the rise from the old days when we still ate marrow bones?
According to the Organic
According to the Organic Consumers' Association, "Chances of getting mad cow disease from garden fertilizer are slim. Experts say scientific evidence is scant or nonexistent on the danger of such products made from rendered cow parts, but add there's an easy way to play it safe: Don't use them.
Safety concerns about bone meal have turned into something of an urban legend, according to Dalton Hobbs, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Agriculture, but he knows of no evidence that bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) can be contracted by inhaling bone meal dust.
"One would think there is a theoretical possibility, but that has not been documented as a form of spreading BSE," he says." Read more here: http://www.organicconsumers.or...
The rabbits at my home do not
The rabbits at my home do not eat the mint, but they sure love to hide in it!
Young bunnies love to nibble on my young tomato leaves.
Marigolds: There are many types of marigolds, so, you can have success with one sub-specie and not another.
Thanks for all the other advise. I will try to use it and see what happens.
Chives don't work for me. I
Chives don't work for me. I had a huge chive plant in a pot on my back steps, next to one of parsley. The chives are now down to a stump...they love it. The parsley is fine. They've eaten my sedum, roses, yarrow, daisies and more. They even chomp on the beach roses, which have thorns. They are not starving...every morning and early evening we see them all chomping on the clover in our lawn. But they don't touch the lavender, Russian sage or Bishop's weed (all purple, by the way).
Question about dried blood and dried bone meal: Do they attract other animals, like raccoons and coyote? Does blood attract carnivores?
That's a good question. Dried
That's a good question. Dried blood and compost can really make a garden bloom. It repels small animals efficiently, thought it may attract carnivores like raccoons and opossums.
Rabbits dislike tomatoes?
Rabbits dislike tomatoes? They had no problem decimating my transplants at the beginning of the season.
The plant of the tomato is
The plant of the tomato is toxic for rabbits, however, they will munch on the fruit.
They eat my tomato leaves and
They eat my tomato leaves and the fruit as well.
I used blood meal and bone
I used blood meal and bone meal when tilling up my garden.
I watched three big.....rabbits go through the garden stopped middle ways and kept on hopping. lol
they all come out in the evening, some one had babies. but they have left my garden alone.!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I used two more bags a couple of weeks ago when tilling inbetween rows. Just for safe measure.
My garden looks great :-)
They have Basil and Parsley
They have Basil and Parsley on the dislike list of herb. We feed my girlfriends bunny basil and parsley and he seems to like them especially parsley often ripping it out of your hand with a little grunt (and no he is not starving). These are also listed on numerous sites on approved foods to give your pet bunny rabbit. I highly doubt these plants will deter rabbits from your garden they may be safe if they have a choice between these and a salad bar of nice crisp Romane or chards.
Since I have to use Seven
Since I have to use Seven dust anyway for bugs, the old time hardware store said to go ahead and put it on the new bean sprouts. Rabbits and such can't stand the acidic taste and I shouldn't have to replant this year. I've also heard of taking an old sweaty sock and putting it in a piece of hosiery tied to a stick, and put it in the ground. The human smell helps to deter the little critters.
Sevin Dust
I looked up Sevin Dust...you misspelled it...and found it to be highly toxic to humans and a pollutant to groundwater. Do not use the stuff...it can kill you along with everything around.
Rabbits ate my green beans to
Rabbits ate my green beans to the ground. They allowed them to grow until just before running, then, bam! The next morning they looked like some one had taken a weed eater to them, only without the rubble of cuttings. I am thinking of planting pumpkins around the perimeter. I have to put them somewhere, just as well plant them where they will do the most good.
Some great advice here. Last
Some great advice here. Last year my garden was blissfully untouched by the rampant rabbits coons skunks groundhogs and deer that live around us. I kept expecting my carrots to be mauled. But they never were I believe because I planted them along the very middle of the garden surrounded by herbs tomatoes and onions & potatoes. I think its a great method- this year I'm surrounding my garden with pumpkin vines to provide a natural barrier since before they were planted the little critters broke in and nearly chewed my collards and brussles sprouts to the ground! I think it'll work! Good luck gardeners!
Pinwheels are working for the
Pinwheels are working for the wascolly wabbit and birds
I plant Marigolds every 6"
I plant Marigolds every 6" all around the garden and a rabbit WILL NOT cross the marigolds, nor will deere, cats, dogs, mice etc. Smells like a skink downwind and works incredibly well
That is interesting - rabbits
That is interesting - rabbits ate my marigolds! down to a ground!
Yep, I planted marigolds in
Yep, I planted marigolds in my front flower garden and the family of rabbits that live in my yard ate half of them two days after I planted the young plants. The war is on! :)
I have lots and lots of
I have lots and lots of them-they ate my marigold at 5 inches as well. They are afraid of nothing-I have tried everything including mothballs, The spray and everything-Now they have decided to hit my bushels out front-I am going to try an onion there right now. Everyone has great ideas unfortunately I have tried them all. I will let ya all know about the onion bc I am tired of these rabbits. they have taken up squatting under our shed and have more and more weekly as it seems. Wish me luck it maybe worth putting the onion out I want my bushes back- I have these rabbit- I ant them to just go away! Short of sitting out with a sling shot I will try anything,
If nothing else, you have
If nothing else, you have made me laugh. I feel your pain and share it. I call them my Sylvanian family and they fear little. I am going to try the onion suggestion. Thanks.
Too many rabbits
I too have an over abundance of rabbits, so many that even the coyotes, owls and hawks are full. I didn't have so many when I had my cat. I need to get another one. He was a good mouser/rabbit'er'/ mole'er', etc. That and a fence seems to be the only sure measure on our country property.
avoid rabbits
I was told to take lots of plastic forks with pronges up and handles in ground all around your plants !! the rabbits don't like the feel of the forks and will stay way ? I have not tried it yet but thought it was worth a try this year???
AVOID RABBITS (Using plastic forks)
I've used plastic forks for many years in my (in ground) veggie gardens and flower gardens they work, sometimes. :-(
However; I've watched the rabbits from indoors, they get up on their hide legs and reach for the flower buds (Daisies and Echinaceas, they leave my Autumn Joy Sedums alone.) and chew them off.
The forks worked well w/ my garden veggie seedlings (straw bales) as I had 8 forks surrounding all sides of every one of those tasty treats.
if you have a 4 legged
if you have a 4 legged critter attacking your garden, to me that's a 3 or 4 course meal just waiting to be cooked! Take advantage of that & the pest problems will disappear.
I'm not sure what it is that
I'm not sure what it is that is getting into my garden, but I found a pile of pea pods under my pepper plants. It has to be something that climbs since i have a fence up. And whatever it is, climbed up onto my hanging tomato and ate a cucumber. I'm tempted to put a camera out. The blood repelant doesnt seem to be working at all. Suggestions?
if you plant cucumbers with
if you plant cucumbers with the spikes still on them, the rabbits will most likely stop eating them.
I have heard/read to sprinkle
I have heard/read to sprinkle human hair around the perimeter of garden.( see your hairdresser) Also a motion detector light will scare the coons and critters. Human urine( your little boys will help) around perimeter. Nasturtiums in the holes of cinderblocks around the garden help avoid aphids. Plant tomatoes in 1/2 of cinder blocks and fill 1/2 block with 8-8-8. the fertilizer leaches the lime from the cinder block and this also helps avoid cutworms.
Put castor beans in mole holes. They love them and it will kill them. Be careful handling Castor beans, use gloves, they are toxic.
If you have dogs, springtime
If you have dogs, springtime means brushing /combing out winter coats. Try placing those fluffy clumps of their hair from the brush around the perimeter of your garden, also works for birds at the berry patch.
Hang Wind chimes to scare the
Hang Wind chimes to scare the deer an Pie Tins tied on a string on the bean trelis or fence works well on rabbits,squirrel's an Birds.
Ways to control rabbits:
Ways to control rabbits:
1. find their warren and plant a small garden for their use. When the babies are born the adults will not like to travel far to get food and they may leave your garden alone in early spring. Figure out the preference of the rabbits and plant only that in their garden.
2. Fencing is fine but it can be cumbersome and expensive. Interplant the prickly vine veggies (vine squash, pumpkin, vine zucchini etc.) throughout your garden. The rabbits dislike the prickers on the vines and in general will not pass through them to get to your beloved veggies in the center. This interplanting is very successful in the northeast where the research and experimentation was implemented and the entire garden interior was left alone while the veggies along the edges of the garden were nibbled.
3. Plant a living fence of raspberries, black berries around the garden edges and tie them down to the ground to create a prickly barrier. This must be done around the ENTIRE garden and will make getting into the garden difficult for the gardener but worth the effort if you have any rabbits, dogs, or other animals such as deer.
4. Plant an aroma barrier of chives, garlic chives, walking onions or seed onions. For some reason potatoes and rhubarb also work as an aroma deterrent.
A combination of all four of the suggestions above was the most successful but using only 1, and 4 of the suggestions above also proved successful.
5. Fox urine, dog and chickens feces can also be a deterent when spread around the perimeter of the garden. The problem with this type of deterrent is that it has to be re-applied after a rain or watering the garden.
Blessings!!!!
Well, like every other great
Well, like every other great idea that worked for them, but didn't work for someone else, I have to say that planting prickly squash vines does not deter rabbits. (or ground squirrels, whichever it is that I have) They are eating my squash plants to the ground (along with my brussels sprouts and my almost ripe tomatoes!)
Loralee
The leaves of nightshades
The leaves of nightshades (tomato, potato, eggplant, peppers, nicotiana) are toxic, as are the plants which contain a lot of oxalates, like rhubarb leaves and pokeweed.
It might just be that old, traditional varieties of marigold, onion, etc are more objectionable to pests -- modern varieties are frequently bred to be more mild and sweet. ... Just a thought!
We have a pet rabbit in the
We have a pet rabbit in the house, and for a while we tried to keep it in an area using a baby gate. It was too low at 2 feet and we moved it up. Our little jumper can clear and/or climb over the gate up to at least 3 feet.
If using a fence to keep the wild ones out of your garden, definitely bury it as suggested and make it up to four feet high. Also, you might try angling the top 1 foot of the fence away from the garden like a security fence. Rabbits shouldn't be able to climb over that.
My experience with pet and
My experience with pet and wild rabbits is that they are all basically pretty lazy. If there is no reason to jump or dig under a fence, they won't bother. They will always take the path of least resistance. By planting a variety of herbs and tender greens around your backyard, they will not feel the need to destroy your vegetable garden. By all means, a fence is your best protection, but it probably doesn't need to be that elaborate. I have had good success with a 2-foot fence and and offering of easy-access food. I seeded my lawn with clover, and the rabbits seem to be quite happy with that, and a few nips out of the herb garden.
Thanks! Had a garden last
Thanks! Had a garden last year,the rabbits ate just about everything. They didnt start on the peas until they were ready to pick. They ate peas,and all! they prefered the purple hulls!am putting up a fence this time.