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JennGM
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| Posted: May 25 2006 at 9:44am | IP Logged
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We have at least one rabbit in the near vicinity that hangs out in ours and our neighbors' yards. He's a regular...all year. Now I'm putting in my vegetable garden and need some advice on how to keep him out.
I'm using the Square Foot Gardening method. Mel doesn't mention keeping out rabbits specifically. He had two suggestions: using PVC pipe to make a canopy or make a chicken wire cage to take on and off. The latter is a little more than I can handle. My question is can that protective garden cover (white see through stuff) work at keeping out rabbits if I secure on bottom, or am I wasting my time?
I've never had to battle bunnies for my food before. I feel more affinity for Mr. McGregor now...as a child I thought of him as the "bad guy."
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Sarah
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| Posted: May 25 2006 at 9:53am | IP Logged
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I don't know about the white stuff, but we use rabbit fence with "T" posts. It has worked great.
I've also heard success with sprinkling human hair (like what is collected after a haircut) around the garden. I don't have experience myself with this.
You can easily take the rabbit fence off the T posts after it serves its purpose. The green fencing looks much better than the silver, since it really blends with foliage.
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JennGM
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Sarah wrote:
I don't know about the white stuff, but we use rabbit fence with "T" posts. It has worked great.
You can easily take the rabbit fence off the T posts after it serves its purpose. The green fencing looks much better than the silver, since it really blends with foliage. |
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I think that's what my neighbor has. But what are T posts and more importantly, an easy place to get them and the green fence?
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Sarah
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| Posted: May 25 2006 at 11:43am | IP Logged
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example- but for dogs, you'll get the idea
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Sarah
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Doesn't have to be as elaborate as the photo.
What are you growing? Sometimes rabbits will just leave it alone if its not what they like--tomatoes, cukes, squash, etc. At least that's my experience.
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marihalojen
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Human hair mixed in the mulch will deter animals, visit your local beauty shop. It is also high in nitrogen (if I remember correctly)
Do you have a pet of some sort? Or can borrow a dog every now and then to urinate at the edges of the garden - BIG deterrent. Little boys are also helpful in this area...but may require covert operations per HOA decrees.
Rubber Snakes (or cut up garden hoses) in gardens are great, move them every now and again. (Really! Who would cut up a garden hose when realistic looking snakes are $1 at the toy store?)
Still Organic (but less home remedy) is Deer Off from Gardens Alive, they also have Plantskydd Deer Repellent both of which should work with rabbits and are less visually invasive than a fence. Fencing out rabbits requires the fence edge to be curled and buried under the ground for best results. Rabbits dig.
The other option is to set up a feeding station away from your garden. Rabbits are more trainable than dogs, we always released one of our domestic rabbits (a really bright colored one - we were running our own genetic experiments! But alas, never saw any offspring) on the farm and it always came to the barnyard for food. Sometimes another wild bunny would come with it and they stayed away from the gardens.
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teachingmom
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marihalojen wrote:
| Or can borrow a dog every now and then to urinate at the edges of the garden - BIG deterrent. Little boys are also helpful in this area...but may require covert operations per HOA decrees. |
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I have rabbits that live under my porch, or at least spend much of their time there! They are snacking on my dianthus in front again this year.  I don't have a dog.
I can just see it now . . . (knocking on neighbor's door) "Hi, can I borrow your son for a few minutes, please?"
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marihalojen
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teachingmom wrote:
| I can just see it now . . . (knocking on neighbor's door) "Hi, can I borrow your son for a few minutes, please?" |
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JennGM
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| Posted: May 28 2006 at 8:11pm | IP Logged
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teachingmom wrote:
| I have rabbits that live under my porch, or at least spend much of their time there! They are snacking on my dianthus in front again this year. I don't have a dog. |
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Our rabbit must be back yard only, as our dianthus was fine...no midnight snacks here. Interesting.
I'm not putting anything up around our garden right now. We have 3 4x4' boxes, most of the plants are herbs and tomatoes. Carrots and lettuce aren't in yet, and I surrounded them with onions and such. We'll see....I'm not married to the carrots and lettuce. Tomatoes are what I want...
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Jennifer G. Miller
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Keeping Rabbits OUT!
