8 Tips to keep rabbits out of your garden

When I was little, I never thought I'd actually want to keep rabbits out of my garden. My father used to point out the baby bunnies in our yard each spring and I thought they were just the cutest things ever. Oh how I would love to have a fluffy little bunny visiting my yard....or so I thought.

30 odd years later now that I have my own bunny in my yard and garden, I'm not so thrilled about it. Sure she's cute, but darn is she destructive! She and her family eat my hostas, carrot tops, lettuce and green beans. I find bites in my melons and chunks missing from my radishes. These rabbits even eat my flowers!

This is not how I imagined it! My fluffy little friend is an adorable pest with a bottomless pit for a stomach! It's gotten pretty bad, and I have tried many many rabbit prevention methods to keep the bunnies out of my garden! 

After trying out lots of different rabbit deterrent methods....these are a few that have worked.

Keep rabbits out of the garden

1) Fencing. By far this is the most effective way to keep rabbits away from your plants! If it's a flexible fence (the plastic net types) use stakes to hold it down so they don't just sneak under. These landscape fabric pins work well. 

Chicken wire is very effective especially when buried a few inches underground, though it rusts after a few years. A wooden fence can be used if the slats are close together, or chicken wire can be stapled to it. Welded wire is a stronger option and won't rust as quickly.

2) Plant things rabbits don't like around the outsides of your garden: Cucumbers, asparagus, squash, Calendula, corn, tomatoes, hot peppers, geraniums, salvia, catnip, basil, oregano, onions and garlic.

3) Vinegar corn cobs: Soak corn cobs in white vinegar overnight. Put the corn cobs around the edges of your garden. Re-soak them every few weeks.

4) Irish spring soap can repel rabbits: Chop it up and hang in bags around the perimeter of the garden. They hate the smell. I use the small lemon bags from the store, but old pantyhose work well too.

5) Human hair and blood meal powder can be sprinkled around the edges of the garden also. They dislike the scent. Ask your hairdresser to save some hair for you on your next visit.

6) Hot pepper spray: Soak hot pepper flakes in water overnight. Strain and pour into a spray bottle. Spray on foliage. Reapply after it rains. For an even stronger concoction, add a few crushed cloves of garlic to the mixture.

7) Scare the rabbits off: let the dog out, or the cat. Most rabbits will learn to avoid your garden if it means a run in with a much larger animal! Since rabbits are prey animals, they are pretty careful about frequenting areas where predators tend to be.

8) Liquid fence. This is the best rabbit (and deer) deterrent I've tried. Just spray it on the foliage and it drastically cuts down the amount of bunny damage you'll see. You can pick it up at the garden center or on Amazon.

Speaking of deer, if you have a problem with deer getting into your garden also you check out how I deal with that issue: How to keep deer out of your garden.                     

These are just the rabbit repellent methods that I've found to work but I'm sure there are more! Do you have a sure-fire way to keep rabbits out of the garden?

Having problems with different types of critters snacking on your garden too? Click here for my other posts on deterring garden pests!


~L

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