Amanda,

Not much deters rabbits. Maybe marigolds. Maybe onions. I have found, though, that they often just hop over the 'stinky' plants they don't like to eat the ones they want. If rabbits get into our garden, they'll eat almost anything. I don't think they've ever eaten chives, garlic chives, mint, onions or marigolds but have eaten just about everything else.

All that has worked for me is a rabbit-proof fence, and you'd be surprised at how many fences are not rabbitproof. We are about to begin construction on a 'Peter Rabbit' theme garden for our almost-three-year-old granddaughter and it will have the traditional white picket fence, but with chicken wire attached on the inside portion of it to keep out all the cottontail bunnies.

We have a woven wire fence around the main vegetable garden to keep deer out. It is 7' feet tall. Attached to the lower 2', we have chicken wire with 1" openings. If you leave any 'soft' ground around the bottom of the fence, they'll squeeze under. If the gate doesn't close tightly, they'll squeeze through it. I don't have the flower beds around the house fenced so occasionally they nibble at them, but not as much as you'd think. That might because the cats are always loitering around the flower beds.

There are several types of rabbit wire fences manufacured to keep them out and I've linked a photo of one below. See how the openings in the lower fence are smaller and the upper ones are larger? We use chicken wire attached to larger fencing because when we used rabbit wire, our local bunnies were able to climb high enough to squeeze through the larger openings just above the small openings.

If you don't do something to keep the rabbits away from your gardens, they'll eat it up and then your well-fed mother rabbits give birth to lots of babies. I love seeing the rabbits hopping around the pastures, but do not want them anywhere near the garden.

Good luck keeping them out,

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Rabbit Shield Fence

I have a lot of rabbits in my neighborhood too. I've had neighbors tell me they quit trying to grow vegetables because they always got eaten by rabbits and squirrels. They haven't been a problem for me at all, and I assume it's because I have two dogs. However, my dogs are inside a lot and even when they're outside, they're usually sleeping in the shade on the other side of the yard, so it wouldn't take an overly courageous rabbit to sneak in for a quick snack. I knew my dogs wouldn't be patrolling the garden, so early on I began putting their hair around the garden every time I brush them. It works out pretty well, because they really start shedding in the spring as the garden starts to grow. And so far (knock on wood), it's kept the rabbits at bay.

Bryan

I have heard that dog hair is good as a rabbit or deer deterrent. Haven't tried it myself.

We live in the country and I have a 22 rifle and enjoy the meat, so, rabbits are not too much of a problem here. However I recognize that my solution isn't for everyone. Dog hair, however, could be a very viable solution for a suburban garden.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Amanda, when I lived in Tulsa, the only things the rabbits never ate were the tomatoes, planted amongst the flowers, and the green beans and peas in pots on the balcony. LOL, they just didn't learn how to climb the stairs. :)

Moni... who is lucky and doesn't have bunnies in her present neighborhood.

Sopamanda - Leave it to this forum to give you choices:
fencing with small openings, rabbit stew, or fertilizer, and don't let them practice on the stairs. LOL

Good thoughts, all. I knew I was in for a battle. I have a sneaking feeling the previous owner used to feed them.

I'm getting my dog groomed this week and will ask the groomer to collect the hair.

Dang, those fences are serious!

Amended garden yesterday and I'm planting onions today. Somebody tell me it's not too late...?

It is not too late for onions. You might get smaller onions than you otherwise would have, but you'll get onions.

Yesterday, our granddaughter informed me she doesn't want to fence the rabbits out of her Peter Rabbit Garden. She wants to plant the garden to feed the rabbits. (sigh) I guess we need to read the Tale of Peter Rabbit a few more times to help her grasp the idea that rabbits do not belong in the garden.

On any given evening in spring, summer and fall, you can walk out into our yard around or shortly after twilight, and you'll see 4 or 6 or 8 rabbits hopping around the yard. Without a rabbitproof fence, we wouldn't have a garden.

I planted three cross vines on trellises last summer. I think the rabbits were so desperate over the last several months that they ate the bottom foot or so off of each plant. I sort of felt sorry for them so I pulled down the rest of the vines they couldn't reach and left them on the ground for them. I'm sure I'll be singing a different song in the next few weeks when I see them in the garden!

Cindy,

Did the crossvine bounce back? As far as I know, they've never nibbled at my crossvines, but that could just be because they prefer other flowers and shrubs instead. Last year, even though it was very rainy and there should have been plenty to eat, the rabbits kept reaching up into 20-gallon containers and nibbling the foliage of the tomatoes planted in them...and the tomatoes were caged!

It is really hard to be a nature-lover and a gardener. I love having the rabbits around, but I don't want them eating my plants. One of our cats used to 'collect' baby rabbits. He'd bring us every baby rabbit he found, completely unharmed. He'd bring us one baby, leave it, and then run off to get another. We'd follow him back, replace the bunnies in their nest, and bring him indoors. Some of our other cats will chase the rabbits, but won't hurt them and others just ignore them.

We leave plenty of pasture land full of native plants for them, but the hotter and drier it gets, the more they come to our yard and garden.

In the winter when food is more scarce, they do come and eat deer corn, hen scratch etc. and I just tolerate it. When it snows, I put food out by the bunny trails for them and during periods of drought when the ponds dry up, I put out aluminum pans of water for the wildife and birds, so I guess if they spend too much time in our yard, it is my fault for feeding them during the 'hard times'.

Dawn

They didn't bother the cross vine last summer...just this winter when I think they were more desperate. I could see that the vines were still green when I pulled them down. Even though they haven't sprouting yet this spring I think they will come back.
Never thought of buying rabbit food for them...may have to do that next winter!