I found out recently that one of my neighbours has a serious problem with wild rabbits. There only up the road from me but the pesky balls of fluff are noticeably absent in my own garden. Rabbits have their own territory and it seems that it doesn’t stretch to my vegetable patch, thank goodness.
My only defence against anything invading my plot consists of a length of wire running around the garden; at present they are supporting the butternut squashes and pumpkin plants. My poor neighbour has spent a considerable amount of money buying attractive plants for the garden and unfortunately they also appeal to the rabbit’s pallet as they have eaten practically everything in sight. In my experience of keeping pet rabbits I find that these creatures will eat just about anything if they are hungry enough, I’ve known our rabbits to eat the top of a coal bag and they chew merrily away at the waterproof covering of their hutch, which is made from bitumen and gravel. There are plants that rabbits will neglect in favour of more palatable ones though and if you have problems with shrubs being munched, it might be an idea to try them out. Rabbits tend to avoid plants that are highly scented, such as lavender and a lot of herbs. They tend to avoid hairy plants and the ones with grey leaves as well, so we were lucky around here as grey, hairy leafed plants thrive in our coastal climate. Sharp spiked plants might also be a deterrent but they will still need protecting whilst the thorns are establishing. If there are small trees in the garden these will need to have rabbit guards, made of tubular plastic put around the trunks, these are only a few cent from garden centres. A fence made from chicken wire could be put around the perimeter of the garden to keep the critters out. The only drawback with this is that the wire will have to be buried under the ground a few inches so the rabbits can’t tunnel underneath, this can be time consuming and very labour intensive. I personally wouldn’t consider poisons as this could work it’s way into the food chain or poison other animals, but I do know people have resorted to these desperate measures, think of mixamatosis, this is introduced when a rabbit warren gets to be a serious problem. This is a horrible way to control rabbits but is used because it is so effective.
There are other plants that could keep the damage to a minimum. Garlic, onions and marigolds all seem to deter bunny from plants around where they are planted. Some one recommended putting the cat litter deposits around the garden to scare the rabbits off, but I think that’s getting a bit carried away.
Horticultural.
My only defence against anything invading my plot consists of a length of wire running around the garden; at present they are supporting the butternut squashes and pumpkin plants. My poor neighbour has spent a considerable amount of money buying attractive plants for the garden and unfortunately they also appeal to the rabbit’s pallet as they have eaten practically everything in sight. In my experience of keeping pet rabbits I find that these creatures will eat just about anything if they are hungry enough, I’ve known our rabbits to eat the top of a coal bag and they chew merrily away at the waterproof covering of their hutch, which is made from bitumen and gravel. There are plants that rabbits will neglect in favour of more palatable ones though and if you have problems with shrubs being munched, it might be an idea to try them out. Rabbits tend to avoid plants that are highly scented, such as lavender and a lot of herbs. They tend to avoid hairy plants and the ones with grey leaves as well, so we were lucky around here as grey, hairy leafed plants thrive in our coastal climate. Sharp spiked plants might also be a deterrent but they will still need protecting whilst the thorns are establishing. If there are small trees in the garden these will need to have rabbit guards, made of tubular plastic put around the trunks, these are only a few cent from garden centres. A fence made from chicken wire could be put around the perimeter of the garden to keep the critters out. The only drawback with this is that the wire will have to be buried under the ground a few inches so the rabbits can’t tunnel underneath, this can be time consuming and very labour intensive. I personally wouldn’t consider poisons as this could work it’s way into the food chain or poison other animals, but I do know people have resorted to these desperate measures, think of mixamatosis, this is introduced when a rabbit warren gets to be a serious problem. This is a horrible way to control rabbits but is used because it is so effective.
There are other plants that could keep the damage to a minimum. Garlic, onions and marigolds all seem to deter bunny from plants around where they are planted. Some one recommended putting the cat litter deposits around the garden to scare the rabbits off, but I think that’s getting a bit carried away.
Horticultural.
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