Rabbit Deterrent Ideas to Protect Your Garden

By Shannon Couillard

Rabbit Deterrent Ideas to Protect Your Garden thegearhunt.com

Learning to keep wild rabbits from eating the plants you have in your garden and yard is something that all gardeners deal with. Yes, it can be peaceful to watch the rabbits, but they tend to eat quite a bit and are capable of destroying plants and flowers quickly simply by scurrying through the garden. If you are tired of cleaning up after them, read on to find out ways to keep them out of your garden and yard.

In the following paragraphs, you will learn how to keep those aggravating rabbits in your garden under control, what types of rabbit controls to utilize, and what products you might want to buy. Take a peek at our pro techniques and tips before deciding which one will be the best option for you and your garden.

Rabbit Damage

Without a doubt, rabbits are adorable, fuzzy, and downright cuddle-worthy, but not when they are intent on ravaging your garden. Say you walk out to your garden one bright and sunny morning only to find that it appears as if someone has been out there snipping the stems off your plants with angular cuts. Your lettuces and plants appeared to have been mowed over too. You might be horrified! The thing is, the culprit was more than likely a rabbit or two.

If you want to ensure that this type of havoc has been wrecked by a couple of fuzzballs, look around for rabbit scat – small, round balls of fecal matter. Rabbits tend to drop them all over the place. Another clue that might assist you when it comes to identifying the culprit is footprints.

Time Frame for Rabbit Problems

If we are to speak frankly, there isn’t a season in the year when rabbit appetites don’t cause there to be problems. In the months of the spring and summer, they will eat vegetable plants and flowers in your gardens. In the cooler months of the fall and winter, they can cause damage to your valuable woody plants.

Rabbits will also dig holes. They can even cause massive damage when they decide to burrow underneath the foundations of any buildings on your property. Rabbits have even been known to cause issues in cemeteries by digging underneath graves!

In the past, it has proven to be difficult to get a rabbit problem under control. Not anymore though. Try the following methods to get rid of them and rid yourself of the problem for good.

How to Keep the Rabbits in Your Garden and Yard Under Control

Controlling rabbits is necessary when you want to reduce the amount of damage they can do. The best way to control that damage is to discourage their presence and to prevent them from gaining access to your plants. Keep in mind that completely wiping them out isn’t a good option. Protecting your individual plants and controlling the rabbit population will assist you in outwitting them while not causing any sort of harm to them.

If you have seen the damage that these little balls of fuzz can cause, you will probably be more than ready to try these methods to get rid of them.

Ensure that Your Garden or Yard is Not Rabbit-Friendly

The first thing that you can do to control the rabbits in your garden is to minimize the spots where they can hide.

If your garden is for vegetables, make sure that there aren’t any wood piles and that all of your garden equipment is put up and not out in the garden. Eliminate things like tall stands of weeds, dense shrubs, etc.

Making the overall habitat one that is less rabbit friendly is a good way to keep them off your property.

Predator Scent

The strong smell of one of their predators can instantly rid your garden of rabbits. You can sprinkle things like cat litter, dried blood meal, human or pet hair, etc. in defensive circles around your trees, garden beds, and shrubs.

Pro tip: Replace any of these scent deterrents whenever it rains or on a weekly basis.

Chemicals

You might also try placing rags that have been soaked in ammonia in strategic places around your garden. If you want to keep the rabbits from eating plants or grass in your yard, odor repellents that contain things like ammonium, naphthalene, or potassium salts are also quite effective. That being said, things of this nature should not be used if you have pets that can get access to them. For that reason, you should only ever use those repellents that are labeled for use in the garden.

Pro tip: Repellents of this nature can lose their effectiveness over time or when in contact with water. They will need to be replaced after it rains, or after you water.

Effective Solutions for Rabbit Control

If you don’t want your garden to be devastated by rabbits, you will need to use a few methods to control them. Here are several ways to keep them from your garden.

Fence Then Out

This is the first step in making sure that your property is not accessible to rabbits. It works well when you want to keep the pesky critters from certain areas. This option might not be overly practical for large areas but will work very nicely for small areas such as high-value crops, hay sheds, and home gardens.

Fencing can be a bit cost prohibitive at times, but it does have the following advantages:

It is a method of controlling rabbits that is humane
It can provide you with an area that is free of rabbits

If you don’t want to turn your grass into a pit of mud and spend a lot of money on several different types of liquids to control the rabbits, fencing the areas in might be a good option.

Rabbits are easily able to dig under fences. To keep them from doing this, the wire parts of the fencing should be installed at a minimum of 10 inches under the ground.

What to buy: Industrial Netting has a product named Polypropylene Rabbit Fence. It is a durable and strong net that will effectively support garden vegetables and plants and is ideal for keeping your garden protected from rabbits.

Advantages: This product is easy to install, practical, functional, and nearly invisible.

What to buy: Origin Point makes a product called Gauge Galvanized Rabbit Guard. It is a safe, long lasting, rabbit guard that is weather resistant. It is made from 16-gauge galvanized wire and will effectively keep rabbits out of your garden, yard, or any other place where you don’t want them wreaking havoc. The price is $30.32.

Advantages: Openings that are smaller on the bottom will keep the rabbits out.

What to buy: Garden Zone has a product called Gard’n Fence Rabbit Guard. This product has been designed specifically to keep rabbits out. It features small mesh squares right at the bottom and will keep your vegetables and plants safe from rabbits. It sells for $30.00.

Advantages: Openings on the bottom that are smaller mean that this fencing product is highly effective.

Use Targeted Coverage

If you have a specific plant or shrub that you want to protect from the rabbits, or if you have a crop, such as broccoli, peas, or beans, that they can’t resist, you might want to protect this part of your garden with fabric.

What to buy: Garden fabric that is all-purpose. It is used as a barrier to keep pests out. It sells for $16.95.

Where to buy: You can find it on Amazon.

Repel Them

How do you make sure that rabbits don’t eat your plants? Repel them. Repellents tend to have odors and tastes that are offensive to rabbits. Things like fish emulsion, granular repellents, and garlic clips will encourage them to leave your garden and find food somewhere else.

Warning: These repellents will not be effective if you don’t have anything that tempts the rabbits. Most of these repellents, especially those that are liquid, will need to be reapplied each time it rains.

Powder or pellet repellents need to be scattered across any areas where the furballs regularly travel. Most of them will need to be reapplied. That being said, some of the commercial formulas for repellents are able to withstand rain.

What to buy: Pro-Tec makes a product called Garlic Clips. They come in sets of 25 and will protect trees, shrubs, and flowers from rabbits as well as from a few other types of animal pests. They sell for $27.97.

Advantages: There is no mixing or spraying of chemicals.

How to use: Just clip one of these on a fence or plant to keep the rabbits away for as long as 8 months.

What to buy: Critter Repellent makes a product called Shake Away Granules. This repellent is easy to use and all natural and will protect your garden or any other area that is being ravaged by rabbits. It sells for $13.95.

Advantages: No spray, no mess. Just sprinkle it and repel the furry critters.

Effectiveness: It contains a genuine tool for marking from a predator of rabbits.

What to buy: A repellent called Rabbit Scram. This is a quite effective solution that will repel the rabbits very quickly. It has been specifically formulated to prevent rabbits from damaging vegetables, trees, shrubs, and flowers. You can use it as a barrier for perimeters. It sells for $20.99.

Effectiveness: If you have rabbits that are causing damage to your yard and/or garden, you can fight them naturally. The ingredients in this repellent contain an odor that induces fear in rabbits. It will remain effective for as long as 45 days.

Advantages: It will convince the rabbits that there is a predator nearby.

How to Effectively Deter and Repel Rabbits

Set traps: When this method is used alone, it isn’t considered to be a method of controlling rabbits that is effective. This is because the rabbit population will recover quickly, and you will need to do it every year. Trapping can be effective when it is combined with other rabbit control methods.

Traps should be set on flat surfaces. They should also be of a size that is large enough for most of the rabbit’s body to fit inside before it reaches the triggering plate. That being said, it should also be small enough that the critters don’t have much wiggle room.

Scare them: A predator, whether it is fake or real, will assist in deterring rabbits from gardens. If you don’t happen to have a dog in your back yard, you can always buy a decoy animal.

What to buy: Owl decoys work very well. This is because owls prey on smaller animals – including rabbits. These are recommended for use where ever there is a rabbit problem. These sell for $22.75.

Advantages: These are easy to use and have holographic eyes that seem to move.

Where to buy: You can find these at Bird-X.

Actually, scare tactics are one of the most effective methods for controlling rabbits. Unexpected movements and loud noises can scare them away. You can use things like the Prowler Owl Decoy that has flexible wings, strips of reflective mylar tape, or even sprinklers that are motion activated.

Yard Guard is another device for pest control that is effective. It is a silent, ultrasonic device that is used to keep rabbits out of gardens and yards without having to resort to poisons and/or traps. It is also non-toxic, safe, and eco-friendly, and is ideal for use as farms, stables, and barns. The benefits of this product are that it will prevent the spread of diseases while also protecting your gardens, lawns, and trees from the rabbits.

In short, there is never a reason to kill or harm any of the rabbits that might enter your yard or garden. You have the option of using one or more of several methods that are much more humane and are even friendly to the environment.