I register “ The Tale of Peter Rabbit ” just like everyone else , and know the drawings , the lively action movie , and the series of stuffed animals that come out many decades later on .
While reading the book , I empathize with Peter and Flopsy and Mopsy . But when it comes to cottontail rabbit making free with my home garden , I am strictly Team Mr. McGregor .
It can be discouraging to establish a flat of flower seedling and have them disappear overnight , nothing but nubs in the morning .
Photo by Rose Kennedy.
As a veteran veggie nurseryman , I line up it just as put off to have run-in upon quarrel ofbush beanssprout , grow an column inch or two , and then get consumed in the space of a daytime .
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What ’s a gardener to do with these cute small pests ?
Photo by Rose Kennedy.
I ’m felicitous to report that there are solution . You do n’t have to resort to hunt these critters , either . ( Sorry , Elmer Fudd . )
rather , take a few min to familiarize yourself with rabbit behavior . That will help you to understand and bring home the bacon ways to thwart their “ all the garden ’s my salad legal community ” habits without violence .
Careful plant selection and straighten out up your grounds and garden are right up there , too . endure and get live ? I ’ve get a couple of hint for way to have a palmy garden and coexist with the occasional bunny rabbit interloper , too .
Here ’s what I ’ll partake for those on a mission to keep coney out of the garden :
What You’ll Learn
Is That Really Rabbit Damage?
There ’s a slim opportunity that the damage you ’re observe on your untried bloom seedlings or veggie sprout was done by another pest .
I had that happen to me when I take for granted lapin were chomping away huge pungency of my springtime greens ( pictured above ) .
But ragged bites and hole in green or other plants , that ’s just not a lapin ’s style . That case of plant damage comes fromslugs or snails .
Rabbits are much more precise . They edit completely through the main stem of a seedling , and the outcome reckon like they used scissor hold , not their discriminating tooth .
If you ’ve got nothing but nubs , that is probably rabbit damage .
Cottontails will also gnaw at the bark of vernal trees . you’re able to tell that it ’s them , not cervid , because their marks only go up a mates of feet at the most .
you may confirm that they ’re doing the damage by looking for their small , rounded dung around the conniption of the crime .
Once you ’ve established which garden blighter you ’re coping with , you’re able to come up with a scheme for protecting your plants and flowers .
Don’t Shoot!
If you ’re already a Orion or have a gun in the house , it may happen to you to seek to do away with your rabbit plague with fire power . I would strongly deter that approach .
For one thing , if you live within city limits , in most places there are restrictions on shooting a piece . Also , you launch the risk of hurting other wildlife or frighten the neighbors .
In more rural areas , there are also complicatedness with disposing of the carcase , and no warranty that you ’ll hit your mug .
And on a hardheaded note , unless you plan to pass a lot of time waiting for your prey to seem , you belike wo n’t be able to keep up with the burgeon rabbit universe once they go after your garden .
According to experts at thePenn State Extension Service , mature wood rabbit does can have as many as 40 offspring in just one season . And they jump being capable to reproduce when they ’re one twelvemonth honest-to-goodness .
Since the numbers are against your potential for succeeder in wipe out these garden pests by shooting them one by one , I ’d encourage you to focus on the come after bar methods , which will work for any rabbits that might be trying to launch your garden as their family snack counter .
Why Raised Beds Work
While you might think of rabbits as being jumpy animals , they ca n’t really reach much altitude .
wood rabbit can alternate two base at the most , while jackrabbits might go a little high than that , but commonly only if they ’re being pursued by a region dog .
That means a first line of DoD is araised bottom gardenwith sides at least two pes grandiloquent . If that ’s not pragmatic for a vastvegetable garden , or the bunnies are after your landscape plant , you ’ll need to try other maneuver .
Or , you may triage , and only establish the flowers and veggie that are most likable to rabbits in raised beds , saving your in - ground patches for plant that are less tasty to Peter , Flopsy , and Mopsy .
Fence Them Out
If the levy bed route is n’t workable , or would only work in part of your grow space , think some fencing , too .
Since most rabbit ca n’t hop more than two feet off the ground , fence in only necessitate to be about 26 inch grandiloquent .
That ’s a alleviation forflower gardener , because it ’s easier to find an attractive or refined fence option when it ’s only a couple base improbable .
You do need to make certain the openings in the mesh or fence rails are no wider than a couple of inches , though .
Rabbits can squeeze through anything more wide , although they wo n’t do that if they can find what they care to eat handily outside this roadblock .
Also dig a furrow and come out the fencing so it souse at least 10 inches below the stain . Cottontails are n’t powerful diggers , but they can uproot a bit of earth to get under a fencing if you let them .
Keep in mind , flowering plant and seedling are particularly likeable when they ’re young and tender .
So if you ’re not willing to mess up with a fence , attempt to at least put some netting over the plants you buy when you first bring them home from the nursery and put them in the earth . That ’s when they ’re most susceptible .
Landscape and Tidy Up to Discourage Rabbits
As gardeners , it ’s easy to find like invasive cuss are the problem and we ’re forced to deal with them .
But in this instance , we can really help to make a station that provides an inviting alternative for the bunnies to dine on without destruct our precious edible seedlings and carefully cultivated ornamentals .
As prey animals , rabbits are look for safe home to shelter with food nearby . Who can fault them if they settle on a garden spot that ’s airless to piles of brush or leaves ?
Discouraging them is a two - part process . First , pass all the untidy spot in the yard where they ’d love to conceal or nest .
This include brush lashings , weedy patches , and undergrowth around landscape painting President Bush .
secondly , ensure they have a more likeable spot available on the far edge of your dimension , or at least several railway yard aside from the plants and blossom you ’d wish to preserve .
That alternative bunny oasis could be middling simple , leave a patch of clover in the grounds unmowed , for model .
Or you could go so far as to constitute a spell of something easy to uprise that ’s tasty to the small hoppers . Think of it as atrap crop , only not for louse .
Plant these tasty tidbits in a place they can get through far more easily than , say , yourprized petuniasornewly sprout cucumber vine .
Because they ’re constantly on the run to avoid hawks , owls , neighborhood bounder , and the same , bank me : they ’ll go for the stuff you plant that ’s located somewhere accessible first .
Bunnies are the original rooter of “ low lie in fruit . ”
Some nurseryman might think this is taking “ hold up and let live ” a little too far . But I like to think I ’m being both practical and tenderhearted when I grow a few extragreen beanplants in the primer so my harvest does n’t suffer .
If lapin eat those , I ’ve still got my “ real crop ” in a distant raised seam .
Grow Plants They Don’t Like
Unlike humans , who are sticklers in terms of which flowers they consider edible , our rabbit booster will eatzinnias , Indian mustard salad days , dahlias , and thousands of others with adequate abandon .
They ’ll also nosh on greens , stems if they ’re soft , fruits ( including tomatoes ) , vegetable ranging from corn whisky to cucumber tohot Piper nigrum , and many others .
If you ’ve noticed your garden is appealing , you may desire to opt for a few flora that cony wo n’t eat .
Just a few of the flowers on that inclination includeMexican marigold , cold miller , lavender , milfoil , butterfly green goddess , Russian salvia , andStylophorum(celandine poppy ) .
On the vegetable side , they manoeuvre exculpated ofall the alliums . If you have n’t ever grownonions , chive , leeks , orgarlic , this could be your chance !
Of naturally , you would n’t be uncoerced to maturate nothing but Russian salvia and chives if your passionateness is gladioli andwinter squash .
But you could opt to put the plants lapin sleep with most into fire beds or fenced areas , and produce the ones that they ignore in the gardens you ca n’t protect as easy .
Use Scents Against Them
If you ’ve tried all these manoeuvre and still feel like you ’re the unwilling host of a 24 - 60 minutes salad bar , believe the cony ’ sense of smell .
sprinkle bone mealaround your most desirable plants is a natural deterrent , for lesson , although it smells terrible to humans as well .
you could also have your dog leave his scent , and make a commotion while he ’s doing it .
Let Fido disport near the garden in the evening , and the cute little furry critters might cross your garden off their list of good harbor .
Do n’t fall for the mothball myth , though . While they might be a deterrent for a time , they only work in small space .
They contain chemical substance that are not secure to practice around vegetables or any edible plant .
And they ’ve got insect powder ( hence the name mothball ) that kill many bugs and could harm other type of wildlife or unseasoned humanity .
Nothing to See Here, Peter Rabbit
Even if you do n’t have an waxy youngster about the place , it ’s always wide-eyed to judge to take all the measures you could to prevent rabbit terms without doing away with the precious little critter .
No one like Mr. McGregor and that doggone pitchfork , you know .
The less appealing your garden and yard are , the few bunny you ’ll have . Because they ’re constantly hunt , they ’ll go for the easiest shelter and food sources they hail across .
Do n’t make your garden that Foo Foo ’s layer - and - breakfast , and you may belike avoid the bulk of issue they can create .
And if you liked these handy bakshish for rabbits , here are a few otherguides to garden wildlifeto study next :
Photos by Rose Kennedy © Ask the Experts , LLC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.See our TOSfor more details . Originally publish on September 2nd , 2014 . Last updated : July 6th , 2023 . Uncredited photos : Shutterstock .
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Rose Kennedy
