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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Rabbit control
The Almanac can add Yarrow to the rabbit list. A young bunny has been munching on my plant and today I am setting up three 8x10 mirrors strategically placed and propped up hoping he will be scared away. Worth a try.. will report back. Stay tuned.
Irresponsible behavior recommendations
It is totally irresponsible to recommend catch and release of rabbits on someone else's property! if you want to catch and release, you need to secure permission from landowners or let them loose on your own property or in a designated/permitted public land. I live in the country and battle rabbits just as the the city gardener. We don't want your rabbits. Rabbits are even more destructive here, as the land spanses are larger and the difficulties in controlling them are greater. Products like 'Repels-All' work to some extent, but they also stink up your garden. Deer deterents, like coyote urine work, but readily attract coyote and they are very destructive too.... that small pets! STOP giving irresponsible advice! I have lost all respect for this site!
Rabbit Disease in the US
We will miss the cute rabbits when they are gone. Tame and wild. There is a disease that is killing rabbits. Virus found in 2020. If you're interested go to: now.tuffs.edu articles deadly rabbit virus spreads us.
I put battery operated motion sensor lights on a tree pointing into my vegetable garden. No rabbits or ground hogs ate my veggie plants or flowers. I had the trees cut down and I put up a row of " fairy lights" on the top of my garden wire fence. I will be adding wind chimes.
Rabbit problem
I’ve tried a few thing...plastic netting with yellow flag markers under the net. Seems to be working. Will line my lilies with yellow marigolds. That worked last year. My final solution, as last resort if needed? Pour a half gallon of ammonia in a bucket, soak a length of jump rope type rope in the ammonia to absorb it and lay it through the garden in question. Worth a try.
Deer and rabbit problems
When hungry, they will eat almost anything except thorny plants like barberry and roses and that's not even guarenteed. String heavy duty fishing line at several heights around garden stakes and attach mesh deer fencing to it with twist ties. Bury about 6 inches into the ground for bunnies. Do not leave any openings unless you have a gate that's also covered.
Your last suggetion is AWFUL
Don't release bunnies in rural areas "far away" from you! You create problems for someone else. How selfish.
Help
Do the plants come back after they have eaten the tops and half the stems off? First time at real gardening and they have eaten half of my plants....
Damn rabbits ate my marigolds!
Wrong about rabbits not eating marigolds...
I planted 4 different species of marigold from seed packets. The only type that wasn't growing well were my French vanilla hybrid marigolds. Out of about 50 seeds only 4 sprouts made it thru germination. Damn rabbits mowed down all 4 of those, plus about 3ft into my Mission Giant Yellow Marigolds.
I've tried all home remedies without success.
...any help would be greatly appreciated!
Hungry little bastards won't stop!!!
Destroyed my bermuda lawn...twice
Several rabbits live in our neighborhood (Texas), and lucky me, neighbors on both sides of my lot have unkept side yards to shelter these pests. The rabbits eat and destroy our bermuda lawns. My backyard is sealed off, but my front yard has been re-sodded twice due to these pests' damage. my current lawn hasn't even had the chance to fully grow in from winter dormancy after being fully replaced 4 months ago. I have tried any commercial repellent consisting of dried blood, garlic, cloves, etc as well as red pepper and cayenne pepper, all without success. My HOA will not allow fencing in the front yard. Please help!
Dinner!
Cottontail rabbit is lean, mild, and very delicious. Super healthy too, they say. Whenever they start nibbling my plants, I just put them on the dinner plate. A well placed headshot with a .22 air rifle not only makes the job very clean, but is doesnt make the neighbors call the cops either!
Since the meat is very lean is dries out easily, so dont grill it or sear it with high, dry heat. I usually either put them in the over whole at 275 F over a bed of herbs and veggies, or I chop them up and make a nice stew with tomatoes.
rabbit deterrent
Last year I purchased cayanne pepper cheap , where ever I could find it. Dollar Stores etc.
I sprinkled it around and on all my new plants until they were established. I re-applied every time it rained or after watering. It seemed to help tremendously. Lil buggers are leaving evidence now (end of winter as I type this) but as soon as I can get out there , the sprinkling will resume even before I start to plant. Hope this helps someone.
Wrong. These pesky rabbits
Wrong. These pesky rabbits love creeping phlox. I just planted mine few days ago, they had the most beautiful blooms and this morning..there were all bitten right off. I tried the garlic, pepper spray, with a dash of liquid soap..it seems like it doesn't work.
rabbits
i've tried chicken wire(they use their heads as a battering ram to get into my garden),sprays,powder. They eat my tomato leaves and pepper plants. Next I'll go broke buying the red pepper and ground them up. As a final cure 22 rifle may be mylast hope .
Rabbits
Yes, I have problems with a wild rabbit...but I have one I rescued, and he's never lived outside...named Petey...and he is quite a character...
Cinnamon
I have a Labrador Retriever who finds new rabbits den before I do. She doesn't eat them but tosses them up in the air like a juggler in a circus. I keep an eye open for the building of new nest. One night I a had a bunny clearly starting a nest in my flower bed. I had read somewhere to sprinkle cinnamon around the flower bed to keep rabbits away. It worked. When I went out to sprinkle the cinnamon the rabbit ran away. Once I went back in the house the rabbit came back right to the same area. She sniffed once and ran away.
rabbits in garden.
My wife doesn't want me to kill them, so I tried putting moth balls around my plants. This worked for the wood chuck problem I had, last year. My garden is fenced in, but the little rabbits get in. Any other suggestion are welcome on this.
Here a bunny, there a bunny...
Our best advice is above and here: The most effective way of keeping out rabbits is chicken wire fencing. Install a fence that is 4 feet high and bury it 6 inches deep. Bend the top foot of the fence away from the garden like a security fence, so that they can’t climb or jump over it. It’s a bit of work but once it’s done, you’re good for a few years at least. (For new bulbs, try a dome or cage of chicken wire secured over the bed.)
Alternatively, eliminate the bunnies’ habitat. Rabbits don’t like to leave their shelters, so try to reduce the possible rabbit homes around your yard. Brush away piles of brush and leaves, and fill in abandoned burrows. If a rabbit doesn’t have a place to live, hopefully it won’t stay and munch. Rabbits will also breed much more if they have a good habitat available—all the more reason to have no vacancy!
If it’s any consolation, one of our editors has bunnies in her neighborhood, too. They’re cute but they can do some damage.
bunnies love white clover
Also see the item below with the subject line “white clover, white clover, send the bunnies right over.” That sounds like a good solution!
Rabbit Control
Here in Suburbia, USA, zone 5b, we have a moderate bunny problem. There are large wooded areas nearby. I began planting Dutch white clover in the lawn a few years ago, and among its many benefits we've found that the local rabbits prefer the clover to almost all of our garden plants. We still have to fence in the peas, beets and lettuce, but the cottontails seem to prefer the clover to almost anything, and we enjoy watching them nibbling away. The local hawks, owls, and half wild cats do their part too, especially if I leave the remains of what they catch near the garden beds. Nature will not be dominated, but she loves to dance.
white clover, white clover, send the bunnies right over!
Great comments, thank you, Odo!
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.
Do you have a rabbit problem?
Debbie. Hi, there. I've seen your post on "Farmer's Almanac" about rabbit problems. You may not want this, but if you or any of your friends/neighbours are interested - I hunt rabbits, squirrels and pigeons, so may be able to help. I regularly shoot rabbits in Powys, Shropshire and Herefordshire, and don't charge for my services. I'm also fully insured.
Hope your rabbit problems are solved. If not, and you are near West England or Wales, please reply to this message.
- - Rebecca.
Rabbits
Just read your post, I have a rabbit problem and would be grateful if you could rid me of them, it is impossible to grow anything,I live near Ross on Wye
Rabbit control
Hello Rebecca!
Can you do some rabbit hunting in Swansea?
Please let me know.
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!
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