Bunny deterence?
March 7, 2016 12:31 PM Subscribe
How to stop a domestic rabbit from eating its way through our flower garden?
An obviously domesticated bunny turned up in our garden in January then disappeared, we assumed the worst. He has just reappeared and has been hanging around in our garden since Thursday, hanging out with our cat (really). I was just writing a 'lost' poster when my SO's facebook post turned up that he lives 2 roads down and goes home at night. We have no objections to his visits but are concerned he is going to eat all of the plants my SO has been building up for the last 2 years. Is there anything that we can do, put down or grow that will deter a rabbit from eating our flowerbeds? We have an open front to our property so can't really wall him out.
Not poison obviously. Must be safe for our cat and not put the cat off staying in the garden.
An obviously domesticated bunny turned up in our garden in January then disappeared, we assumed the worst. He has just reappeared and has been hanging around in our garden since Thursday, hanging out with our cat (really). I was just writing a 'lost' poster when my SO's facebook post turned up that he lives 2 roads down and goes home at night. We have no objections to his visits but are concerned he is going to eat all of the plants my SO has been building up for the last 2 years. Is there anything that we can do, put down or grow that will deter a rabbit from eating our flowerbeds? We have an open front to our property so can't really wall him out.
Not poison obviously. Must be safe for our cat and not put the cat off staying in the garden.
Response by poster: He is pretty cute, we were thinking of catching him before today but were not really keen to be responsible for a rabbit.
I'm afraid I have already established he's eating something in the flower bed, as he was having a nibble when I got in from work. If SO establishes the same thing then there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. I gave him some carrot to distract him this evening. We already have herbs in with the flowers but that was more for human consumption. We have a veg garden abut ten yards away not planted as yet for this year, but not keen for him to tuck in there when it gets going. We can probably fence that fairly easily if necessary, fencing the front of the garden is not so easy, although thinking about it there might be some advantages from persuading the cat not to go out the front way and a small fence would help, since he can't jump like a normal cat.
posted by biffa at 1:48 PM on March 7, 2016
I'm afraid I have already established he's eating something in the flower bed, as he was having a nibble when I got in from work. If SO establishes the same thing then there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. I gave him some carrot to distract him this evening. We already have herbs in with the flowers but that was more for human consumption. We have a veg garden abut ten yards away not planted as yet for this year, but not keen for him to tuck in there when it gets going. We can probably fence that fairly easily if necessary, fencing the front of the garden is not so easy, although thinking about it there might be some advantages from persuading the cat not to go out the front way and a small fence would help, since he can't jump like a normal cat.
posted by biffa at 1:48 PM on March 7, 2016
One method I've seen that may work for you is a combination of deterring and distracting the rabbit. I was at a friend of a friend's backyard party and the homeowner had a somewhat similar problem to yours. They liked having the rabbit around, but not at the expense of their garden.
What they had done was a two-part strategy. First, they added in some plants (I can't remember what they were, but this list I found seems to be a place to start) that rabbits supposedly avoided along the outside edges of their low (less than a foot high) garden fence. The second part involved placing a small 'fake' garden on the opposite side of their backyard (closer to where they believed the rabbit was coming from), that looked like a regular flower bed from a casual glance, but also contained an assortment of little vegetables that they knew the rabbits liked mixed in. Those vegetables were considered 'expendable' and they only put enough effort into their upkeep to keep them alive and keep the rabbit distracted.
In their case, it worked. The rabbit went with the 'easy pickings' of the fake garden, and soon gave up going after the real one entirely.
posted by chambers at 1:50 PM on March 7, 2016
What they had done was a two-part strategy. First, they added in some plants (I can't remember what they were, but this list I found seems to be a place to start) that rabbits supposedly avoided along the outside edges of their low (less than a foot high) garden fence. The second part involved placing a small 'fake' garden on the opposite side of their backyard (closer to where they believed the rabbit was coming from), that looked like a regular flower bed from a casual glance, but also contained an assortment of little vegetables that they knew the rabbits liked mixed in. Those vegetables were considered 'expendable' and they only put enough effort into their upkeep to keep them alive and keep the rabbit distracted.
In their case, it worked. The rabbit went with the 'easy pickings' of the fake garden, and soon gave up going after the real one entirely.
posted by chambers at 1:50 PM on March 7, 2016
Rabbits eat everything. Even if they can't eat it, they'll still yank a bit off just to see if maybe it's become edible since last time. Or because it's in their way. Or because you've annoyed them.
Physical barriers. Fences. Sorry. But it won't have to be too high, a foot should do it.
And whoever owns him really needs to be taking better care of him. The next cat won't be so relaxed.
posted by Leon at 2:04 PM on March 7, 2016 [3 favorites]
Physical barriers. Fences. Sorry. But it won't have to be too high, a foot should do it.
And whoever owns him really needs to be taking better care of him. The next cat won't be so relaxed.
posted by Leon at 2:04 PM on March 7, 2016 [3 favorites]
Our rabbits ate everything in our garden. They went through fads, so some flowers would be safe one week and then we'd come home to find sad little stubs where the plants were.
We had some success putting chicken wire around all of our borders, but in the end they just started climbing up the wire to reach tasty bits higher up. The lawn was beautiful as they kept it mowed very short, but every time we had a dry spell you got brown patches above where they had tunelled.
I think the only certain way is to keep the bunny out of your garden.
posted by kadia_a at 2:04 PM on March 7, 2016
We had some success putting chicken wire around all of our borders, but in the end they just started climbing up the wire to reach tasty bits higher up. The lawn was beautiful as they kept it mowed very short, but every time we had a dry spell you got brown patches above where they had tunelled.
I think the only certain way is to keep the bunny out of your garden.
posted by kadia_a at 2:04 PM on March 7, 2016
I don't know how well it works with domesticated rabbits, but topdressing with blood meal (which is exactly what it sounds like, and a normal if slightly grody nitrogen supplement) freaks out wild rabbits and even deer enough that they may leave your plants alone.
Needs to be reapplied every so often or after heavy rain.
posted by pullayup at 2:21 PM on March 7, 2016
Needs to be reapplied every so often or after heavy rain.
posted by pullayup at 2:21 PM on March 7, 2016
A border of salvia divinorum would work. Molbaks used to sell it as a deer proof bedding plant when they had a garden shop in the Pike Place Market.
And it is a beautiful plant with a rosette of bronze tinted emerald leaves.
posted by y2karl at 4:33 PM on March 7, 2016
And it is a beautiful plant with a rosette of bronze tinted emerald leaves.
posted by y2karl at 4:33 PM on March 7, 2016
Mix some dog fur in with the dirt at the edge of the garden. It saved a friend's tulips from bunny destruction.
posted by DrGail at 5:50 PM on March 7, 2016
posted by DrGail at 5:50 PM on March 7, 2016
Seconding blood meal. It has an unpleasant smell, but that's the point. It's dry and easy to scatter. I don't know about rabbits but it's like magic against squirrels and chipmunks.
posted by jessicapierce at 6:29 PM on March 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by jessicapierce at 6:29 PM on March 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
Another option for inedible plants is to mace them with cayenne pepper spray regularly. I volunteered with a forrest service site where they would mix it in with the paint for buildings to keep the marmots from devouring the wood building.
posted by nickggully at 7:58 PM on March 7, 2016
posted by nickggully at 7:58 PM on March 7, 2016
Send a note to the owners expressing your concern that their rabbit is wandering so far. Let them know that you are telling them this because you don't want to see it dead in the road. Also let them know that it is eating your garden and, as you don't know what plants are safe for rabbits and what plants are toxic, they may want to contain it for its own safety.
posted by myselfasme at 5:37 AM on March 8, 2016
posted by myselfasme at 5:37 AM on March 8, 2016
Response by poster: Thanks all, I will look into the dog fur (I think I can get a lot pretty easily), blood meal and cayenne options for the short term and talk to the SO about the plant deterrent. I only know the street where the bunny lives and tracking it home would be pretty difficult.
posted by biffa at 6:45 AM on March 8, 2016
posted by biffa at 6:45 AM on March 8, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
Depending on what you /your SO planted he (or she?) might not eat it. Mine was rather picky and while I know they can be quite stupid and eat stuff they should not, I would assume unless you have rows upons rows of tasty vegetables you are fairly safe. You could even offer veggie alternatives to your flowers if you are so inclined: sow radishes, mine loved the greens, carrots are so much harder to grow but this was favourite rabbit food: carrot greens. Or offer twigs of apple trees - they love the leaves and tender shoots of an apple branch. Also herbs, parsley etc - consider planting a herbal border on your flower bed.
As far as keeping her/him out: mine was not a big jumper (eg not like a cat). Depending on the size of the rabbit a barrier of approx. knee height might already suffice (Eg if bunny is the size of your cat). Perhaps the people he goes home to at night can be of help in suggesting a type of deterrent? If not, look in the DIY store for low fencing, beware they can squeeze through small openings.
posted by 15L06 at 1:08 PM on March 7, 2016