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Rabbits eating my plants

itsueyitsuey Posts: 42
in Problem solving
I was very excited to spot a family of very tiny bunnies in my garden a couple of weeks back, but they've since become somewhat of a nuisance and have eaten the rose I planted out the other day. How do I keep them from eating my plants, but not deter them, or other animals, from the garden? 
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  • hypercharleyfarleyhypercharleyfarley Posts: 345
    You can't stop wild rabbits eating your plants - there are very few which they won't/don't eat e.g. foxgloves, euphorbias etc and any others which have a poisonous or irritant sap.  The only deterrent which really works - and I speak from years of experience of having wild rabbits in the garden - is to have an "outdoor" cat which could roam around the garden all day and night.  Otherwise you'll have to cover everything with small-gauge chicken wire which I have seen done in a garden locally.  I would be really pleased to hear of anything else which really does work!
  • JellyfireJellyfire Posts: 1,139
    Im plagued by them, and am yet to find a good remedy other than putting chicken wire around plants. They tend to go particularly for new plants, or stuff that has got fresh growth. I do find it improves as the year goes on and there is much more available to eat. I've basically learned to live with it, if I plant something new I either surround it with wire until it is firmly established and growing strongly, or accept the fact that it will have to have a pretty rubbish first year, and will put out enough new growth to cope with it in its second year when they dont seem to bother them so much.

    Plants that they seem particularly keen on are Lupins, Roses, Delphiniums, campanula
    The ones they seem to ignore completely are alliums, daffodils and many natives like foxgloves. I have a large wild flower area which Id be quite happy for them to munch on but they seem to completely ignore that and go for the nice new perennials. 

    If anybody has an effective remedy Id love to know about it, Ive tried garlic spray and the like but Im sure they just see that as seasoning.
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    I think it is unrealistic to want rabbits in your garden but not eating your plants. It's about the same as taking kids into a sweetshop to just look. An energetic cat is the best answer; the rabbits don't hang around to be caught, they just move out.
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    My friend who has a large garden in the country shoots and butchers them and his wife cooks them.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    You could be describing me years ago in Kent. My husband was very proud of his roses and we used to enter them in the village show, but one years the rabbits were a real nuisance. He used to shoot them and I cooked them.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    My sister who grows a lot of her own veg etc. has problems with rabbits and spent a fair amount of money making things rabbit proof.
    What makes me laugh is that she also keeps a pet rabbit and buys in special food for it,takes it to the vets etc. etc.........!!!!!!!!  :D
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    That's because a pet rabbit is a member of the family and a wild rabbit isn't!
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    edited May 2018
    Very true!!

    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • itsueyitsuey Posts: 42
    I would love to have a cat, but unfortunately we rent our house and we're not allowed pets.

    I've seen a few ads for "anti-pest" spray since posting, which seems to suggest you can spray it around flowerbeds and any rabbits/rats/hedgehogs etc will steer clear of the area, has anyone had any experience of these? I'm very wary of putting down anything potentially harmful as I live right next to a river and don't really want to go poisoning anything. 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    If you want to keep rabbits away from your plants you need to either properly rabbit fence the garden securely and that means proper wire rabbit netting tall enough for them not to leap over and buried and turned out to prevent burrowing (google for diagrams) plus rabbit proof gates , or net individual plants that ard the most vulnerable, particularly while they're young and tender. 

    I've never met a rabbit that knew it was supposed to avoid plants treated with anti pest spray.  :/

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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