How To Keep Rabbits Out Of The Garden - 9 Easy Ways (2024)

FAQs

How do I keep rabbits out of my garden naturally? ›

Try sprinkling dried sulfur around or on your plants. Rabbits also dislike the smell of onions, so try planting these around your garden to further deter the furry creatures. To discourage pesky rabbits, try dusting your plants with plain talcum powder.

To keep them safe, you need to make sure there are no gaps around your garden fence they can escape from. We would recommend checking this regularly to make sure they haven't gnawed any holes or started burrowing their way out. Ideally, fencing should be buried slightly or have a 'skirt' to prevent this.

Exclusion. Fencing is the most effective way to keep rabbits out. Install a 2-foot tall fence of 1-inch chicken wire, held up by sturdy stakes every 4 to 6 feet apart. Rabbits will try to go under a fence, so bury it 6 inches deep, line the bottom with bricks or rocks, or bend it down in an “L” on the animal side.

But don't run to the store for repellant just yet—vinegar is an easy way to deter rabbits from stealing your veggies! Simply soak a cotton ball in white vinegar and place it in a small jar or canister with holes poked in the lid. Place these around the garden, and the vinegar scent will help to keep the rabbits at bay.

To make this rabbit repellent, first fill a one gallon container, such as a milk jug, with water. Crush 5 garlic cloves and add then to the water. Add a teaspoon of crushed red peppers and 1 tablespoon of dish soap. Shake the container very well and then place in outdoors in the direct sun for two days.

The best way to keep rabbits out of your garden is to put up a rabbit-proof wire-mesh fence with a maximum mesh size of 2.5cm (1in). The fence should be at least 1.2m (4ft) high, with a further 30cm (12in) of fencing buried below ground level.

Plants that rabbits dislike include lavender, penstemon, artemesia, hyssop, sages, shasta daisy, gaillardia, common butterfly bush, blue mist spirea and columbine.

Will coffee grounds keep rabbits away? Sprinkling coffee grounds among your plants may help to ward off rabbits and other small mammals due to coffee's powerful scent. Plus, it composts naturally over time, giving your plants some extra nutrients!

In the wild, rabbits are prey animals, at risk of being caught and eaten by foxes, birds of prey, snakes, dogs and cats – and humans. To survive, they have to be constantly wary and use their keen senses of sight, hearing and smell to detect potential predators. Your pet rabbits have the same instincts.

Arm & Hammer TM Baking Soda will help keep rabbits away from your plants. “Sprinkle baking soda around your vegetable garden. Make a thin but visible ring of baking soda around each plant. This will dissuade rabbits from nibbling on them.

Will soapy water deter rabbits? ›

Common natural repellents include anything from coyote urine, to soapy water, vinegar, and cayenne pepper; but these need to be applied frequently, and it's often reported that rabbits eventually become used to the smell and taste of these things.

Rabbits rely on their heightened sense of smell to seek food and detect danger. Choose a liquid or granular repellent that repels by odor, using either putrescent egg, dried blood, or a mixture of both. These ingredients emit a scent that's proven to trigger a natural flight response in rabbits.

Simply sprinkle some cinnamon around the perimeter of your garden or wherever you don't want rabbits to go. The strong smell of cinnamon will deter rabbits from entering the area. Plus, it's a safe and humane way to keep rabbits away from your garden or home.

Irish Spring soap

I was surprised to learn that Irish Spring bar soap is an inexpensive rabbit repellent. Apparently unlike myself who finds the scent of Irish Spring to be pleasant, to rabbits, it has a terrible stench that drives them away.

Irish Spring soap repels mammal pests, such as mice, rabbit and deer. It does not repel insect pests. Irish Spring soap does not always eliminate pests completely , but can be a helpful tool to reduce the rate of attack on plants.

Plant bushes and evergreens along the edge of the yard, or add brush piles for the rabbits to hide in. Build brush piles by placing sticks on the ground, with smaller twigs and leaves on top. Rabbits are also attracted to weedy areas and tall grass, so allow an area to grow, and do not mow it.

Home gardeners often recommend vinegar or hot chili pepper sprays as bitter substances that will discourage rabbits and other pests.

The egg shells sprinkled around them do wonders for preventing those cute furry fuzzballs from munching on the leaves. Rabbits dislike the smell of eggshells so they will avoid the area.

Plants rabbits tend to avoid include: Vegetables: asparagus, leeks, onions, potatoes, rhubarb, squash, tomatoes. Flowers: cleomes, geraniums, vincas, wax begonias. Herbs: basil, mint, oregano, parsley, tarragon.

What kind of grass do rabbits hate? ›

As a general rule, plants rabbits don't like include those that have strong scents, spines, prickles, or leathery leaves. Rabbits also tend to avoid plants that exude a milky sap. An innate sense of danger often– but not always– steers animals away from plants that are toxic.

Apart from working as a fertilizer, urine also works as a natural animal repellent due to its smell. Diluted urine can be applied near plants; it is unnoticeable to humans, but it deters away animals that eat plants like rabbits and deer.

With a little bit of work, you can prepare some of these deterrents right from the comfort of your home. Rabbits scuttle at the smell of garlic, and will forever stay away from a garden implanted with the smell of garlic. To prepare, get some bubs of garlic and grind them to powder and then measure out half a cup.

Rabbits are highly sensitive to thunder, loud bangs from fireworks, and very noisy children. They're also likely to run away when you turn on your hoover. Typical signs of distress in rabbits include: Staying motionless / playing dead.

Stress affects your rabbit's health

Rabbits have several specific behavioural needs that can make them a complex pet to keep. These needs relate to rabbits being prey animals and easily frightened. Fear is a response that enables an animal to avoid dangerous situations.

Rabbits are not afraid of the dark in and of itself. If they cannot see and things are happening around them, though, they'll naturally become skittish. An outdoor bunny will smell and hear wild animals. These could be foxes patrolling your yard, neighborhood cats, or owls and bats.

"Sodium bicarbonate is used as an emetic (to induce vomiting) because it produces tremendous amounts of gas when it hits the acidic stomach. Humans can vomit, but rabbits cannot. So there is the very real risk of stomach rupture if the bunny ingests enough to generate too much for the volume of the stomach.

ACV is known for keeping the rabbits fur softer and shinier. Many rabbit breeders feel that by adding ACV to your rabbits water this will result in healthier rabbits by increasing the nutrient absorption capabilities of the G.I. tract as well as helping with the whole digestive process.

We add apple cider vinegar to our rabbits water for many health benefits. We recommend you do as well! One reason we use ACV is because it contains essential vitamins and minerals that increase the overall health of our buns. AVC is known to prevent urinary tract infections and helps keep their HP levels regulated.

Do wind chimes deter rabbits? ›

Hang wind chimes or windsocks to help deter deer.

These noise-making methods won't be as effective for rabbits though, so the use wind chimes or windsocks should be used in conjunction with fencing or plants that are deterrents.

By eliminating this desired habitat, where they like to hide from predators, it might help discourage them from hanging around in your yard. Pepper! Rabbits hate pepper. Putting crushed red pepper in areas where they eat, pee and poop over and over again will make this area undesirable to them.

Foods that attract wild rabbits include leafy green veggies like cabbage and kale, root vegetables like carrots and radishes, berries, fresh green tree bark, clover, and many weeds. Rabbits are most attracted to leafy vegetables.

It allows us to preserve beneficial insects in the garden. It also means that not every insect will be bothered by soap. Small, soft-bodied insects are the best candidates for management with soapy water. Aphids, whiteflies, thrips, and mites are all good candidates for soapy water sprays.

The powerful concentration of scents that essential oils deliver makes them a great deterrent to rabbits. Mint and peppermint essential oils are good choices, as are lemon balm and rosemary. You can buy essential oils or make your own.

You can repel squirrels using scents they hate such as, capsaicin, white vinegar, peppermint oil, coffee grounds, cinnamon, predator urine, garlic, dryer sheets, Irish Spring Soap, and rosemary.

Basically, if it would give you grief as a human, avoid placing it in that location for an animal. Generally, the following oils are considered safe for rabbits: lavender, lemon, orange, fennel, peppermint, eucalyptus. And these oils are generally NOT safe for rabbits: anise, clove, oregano, tea tree, wintergreen.

Rabbits Hate Vinegar

While it may make your garden smell like a bag of salt and vinegar chips, it'll keep the rabbits away! Make sure that you don't spray vinegar directly on your plants, as it can cause them to wilt. You'll want to spray this around the perimeter of your plants, squarely away from their roots.

A homemade mixture made with hot peppers sprayed on your garden plants will repel the rabbits because the peppers contain capsaicin. This chemical is responsible for the spiciness of the peppers, says the National Pesticide Information Center, and it keeps away rabbits without causing damage to your plants.

Rabbits have a strong sense of smell, which they use to find accessible food sources. You can take advantage of this trait by using scents they dislike, such as garlic, vinegar, chili powder, predator urine, sulfur, blood meal, chives, lavender, geraniums, and wax begonias.

Does soapy water keep rabbits away? ›

Common natural repellents include anything from coyote urine, to soapy water, vinegar, and cayenne pepper; but these need to be applied frequently, and it's often reported that rabbits eventually become used to the smell and taste of these things.

Scare them away. Lights, shiny aluminum pie tins, and motion scare devices can be enough to ward off rabbits, at least for a time. Dogs and cats running free in the yard are a great deterrent, too.

If your rabbit chews the carpet, some rabbits will dislike the taste of bitter sprays for pets, hot pepper sauce or flakes, vinegar, or rubbed-in Ivory soap, but they can be a hit and miss. Some bunnies will not care or even love the taste.

Mint, Garlic, and Egg Mixture

As rabbits do not like the taste of garlic and mint, both can be combined with eggs to make an effective rabbit repellent.

With GI stasis, the normal, quiet gurgling of the healthy intestine may be replaced either by very loud, violent gurgles (gas moving around painfully!) or silence. The bunny may become lethargic, have no appetite and may hunch in a ball, loudly crunching his teeth in pain.

Block cords and outlets with furniture so the rabbit cannot reach them. Carpet: Cover a favorite chewing area with a large ceramic tile or a plastic office chair mat. Choose low-pile carpeting that may be less tempting. Baseboards and corners: Use plastic or decorative wood corner protectors (home centers).