Key Takeaways
- Wire mesh fences, vegetable cages, and protective coverings serve as robust obstacles that help prevent rabbits from feasting on your flowers.
-
Planting
rabbit-resistant flowers
Moreover, incorporating plants that have potent aromas or unusual textures might discourage voracious rabbits from feasting in your garden. - Keep your garden area clean and orderly, install motion-sensitive scare devices, and think about using harmless sprays to prevent rabbits from making a home in your floral patches.
Throughout all my childhood picture books, cute rabbits were shown eating flowers and
strawberries
And donned stunning azure jackets as they made their way to the garden. In truth, those adorable bunnies have the capability to decimate a line of lettuce or even consume an entire patch of vegetables completely.
petunias
Overnight. Despite their cuteness, it’s time to reclaim your garden and prevent rabbits from feasting on your blooms.
Understanding Rabbit Behavior
Since rabbits prefer to graze through your garden at night, you probably will only catch a glimpse of them eating your flowers. However, in the glare of morning light, you’ll see the damage. Plants, especially tender seedlings, will simply disappear because the rabbits have eaten the entire thing.
If they haven’t consumed the whole plant, you can identify a rabbit issue if leaves or flowers show neat, tidy cuts. These marks resemble snips made by scissors due to the rabbits’ teeth. Additional indicators of a rabbit infestation encompass soil excavation, clumps of hair snagged on bushes or fences, along with tiny heaps or dispersed droppings about the size of peas found within your garden area.
Use Physical Barriers To Keep Out Rabbits
While a
chicken wire fence
may not be the garden aesthetic you were going for, it is pretty effective in keeping rabbits away from your flowers. Head to the hardware store for chicken wire fencing with mesh openings 1 inch or smaller and some metal or wooden stakes. To keep the rabbits from burrowing under the chicken wire, bury it 4 to 6 inches deep and keep it at least 2 feet tall and supported with wooden or metal stakes around the area you want to protect.
If you want to protect just a few flowers, consider making a cage of chicken wire to encircle the plant. You can also place bird netting over young, tender flowers to slow down a rabbit. Place some wooden stakes around the plants to support the netting and use landscaping pins every few inches to pin the netting to the ground. Adjust the netting as the plants grow. Or, for woody-stemmed shrubs and young trees, add plastic trunk protectors that wrap around the trunk.
Sensor-triggered lights and water sprays might scare off rabbits, pushing them towards your neighbor’s yard unless the bunnies are feeling particularly starved and bold.
Include Plants That Rabbits Avoid In Your Flower Garden
Rabbits are known as opportunistic eaters; however, when finding food becomes challenging, they usually look elsewhere. Incorporating plants that rabbits find less appealing into your garden layout may aid in safeguarding your blooms. The effectiveness of this strategy relies heavily on factors such as the seasonal changes affecting plant growth and blooming cycles, the level of hunger among local rabbit populations, and their numbers. This approach often turns into an ongoing experiment where success comes from continuous adjustment and observation.
Although you might have noticed that they adore your petunias, pansies, sunflowers, and zinnias, why not add some diversity with additional plants?
floral and herbaceous plants known for their potent scents
and dense or hairy leaves they tend to avoid:
-
Ageratum
(Ageratum houstonianum
) -
Wax Begonia
(Begonia – wax types) -
Pot Marigold
(Calendula officinalis
) -
Spider Flower
(Cleome) -
Four-O’Clock
(Mirabilis jalapa
) -
Geranium
(Pelargonium
×
hybridum
) -
Ornamental Onion
(
Allium
spp.) -
Hyacinth
(Hyacinthus orientalis
) -
Daffodil
(Narcissus
spp.) -
Astilbe
(Astilbe
spp.) -
False Indigo
(Baptisia australis
) -
Garden Mum
(Chrysanthemum Rubellum Group
) -
Bleeding Heart
(Lamprocapnos spectabilis) -
Foxglove
(Digitalis purpurea
) -
Blanket Flower
(Gaillardia) -
Daylily
(Hemerocallis
spp.) -
Red Hot Poker
(Kniphofia
spp.) -
Shasta Daisy
(Leucanthemum
×
superbum
) -
Cardinal Flowe
r (Lobelia cardinalis
) -
Rose Mallow
(Malva trimestris
) -
Bee Balm
(Monarda didyma) -
Peony
(Paeonia
hybrids) -
Russian Sage
(Salvia yangii) -
Creeping Phlox
(Phlox subulata
) -
Primrose
(Primula
spp.) -
Perennial Salvia
(Salvia
×
digenea
) -
Stonecrop
(Sedum
spp.) -
Lamb’s Ear
(Stachys byzantina
)
Make Your Garden Less Rabbit-Friendly
Rabbits tend to feed near their nests. So,
Make your yard and garden less inviting
. Maintain neatly trimmed lawns, eliminate brush piles, or clear away underbrush where they might conceal themselves during daylight hours. Check for potential nesting spots nearby.
porches
, evidence of digging near fences. Owning a pet like a dog or cat outdoors serves as clear notice for rabbits to keep their distance.
Certain garden enthusiasts achieve good results using gleaming pinwheels, faux rubber snakes, and owl figurines designed to scare off rabbits. Keep in mind that rabbits tend to eat during nighttime hours; thus, reflective items might be ineffective without running an electric fan and keeping exterior lighting activated throughout the night. Should you employ such repellents, make sure to shift their positions regularly to outsmart those persistent bunnies.
Numerous garden enthusiasts vouch for DIY odor repellents such as dog and cat fur or concoctions mixed from cayenne pepper and garlic. While it’s worth giving this method a shot, remember that these repellents have to be reapplied every time you water your plants, and over time, the rabbits might get accustomed to the smell.
Using Rabbit Repellents
Various commercially available odor and taste deterrents come in both liquid and granule forms, aiming to deter rabbits effectively. These odor repellents often appear as sprays infused with compounds that have strong scents recognizable to rabbits but remain inconspicuous to human senses. On the other hand, taste deterrents typically offered in powder form include substances such as thiram and ziram, which render vegetation unpalatable—though these should not be applied to edible crops. It’s crucial always to adhere strictly to the product labels’ instructions regarding usage and safety measures. Additionally, remember to reapply these deterrents following significant rainfall events, watering of your garden, or when fresh foliage emerges from your plants.
Additional Tips and Considerations
- Make a habit of checking the garden regularly for rabbit damage.
- Verify the rules in your region regarding the use of humane traps for relocating rabbits.
- Stay away from harmful repellents such as mothballs and toxins that may pose risks to pets and people.
- Falcons and hooters are natural enemies, so attract them to your garden using nest boxes.
Read the initial article on
Southern Living
