How to keep rabbits out of your vegetable patch
Gardening can be fun and beneficial but can have its own set of problems
Keeping your own garden can be a fun activity for anyone, from the single individual to a family activity that is full of teachable moments and bonding opportunities for you and your children. However, many times you will find your hard work destroyed by rabbits that have used your garden as their own personal snack bar. Here’s how to keep rabbits away, and keep your garden producing wonderful and healthy vegetables and fruits for you and your family.
Recognizing rabbit damage
Making sure your garden was damaged by rabbits, and not by other garden-destroying critters, like snails and slugs, is important. If it’s snails and slugs and not rabbits, these measures won’t help you prevent future damage from happening. Snails and slugs will leave shiny trails around your garden, and rabbits will leave chewed plants and stems behind, along with their tiny rabbit pellets. They prefer beans and peas, as well as lettuce, while snails and slugs prefer tomatoes.
Fencing in your garden is the best way to deter rabbits
If the damage done to your garden was by rabbits, you should measure the perimeter of your garden. Then add four feet to that. For every foot you have of perimeter, you will need one four foot long stake. You will want to pound a stake into the ground six inches deep, and about six inches away from the outside edge of your garden, every foot. Where you will enter your garden, take out two stakes. You will want to buy chicken wire, or other suitable fencing, in the length of your garden’s perimeter plus six feet. Buy chicken wire that is four foot in width. If you prefer, you can buy electric fencing in the same amount, and skip the trench step that comes next.
Dig a shallow trench around the perimeter of your garden, on the outside of the stakes. This should be up to six inches deep if your soil is compacted and up to nine inches if your soil is looser or composed of sandier soil. Lay one side of the fencing in the trench, going around the stakes, and staple the fencing onto the stakes. At the corners, you will have to split the chicken wire so that you can curve the wire fence around the slope created in the trench. When you are done, cut the remaining two feet of chicken wire into four pieces, one for each corner. Attach these to the chicken wire at the corners, in the trenches, where the chicken wire fencing was split. Now, fill the trenches back in with the soil, and add colourful ties to the wire, so it is more visible.
Organic repellents that you can do yourself
There are many organic repellents that won’t harm the environment, and some can even help fertilize your garden as they decompose. Many you will already have being created in your home, sometimes on a daily basis, or be able to find very cheaply, or even free.
Instead of throwing away the hair in your hairbrush every morning, throw it in your garden instead. Extra hair can be obtained from different barbers in town. Pet hair can also be added to further increase the repellent activity.
The scent of egg shells mimics, to rabbits, the scent of dead animals, which signals to rabbits that there is a predator nearby. Rabbits will be too afraid to enter your garden if it smells like there are predators lurking around.
Spraying fruits and vegetables, and other plants, including nearby grass, with water that has been boiled with hot peppers in it (and allowed to cool, of course!) will make plants unappetizing. Garlic powder can also work if applied to plants the same way, although boiling isn’t required. After a rain, these should be reapplied.
Used kitty litter, without any ‘lumps’ can work really well if left around the perimeter of your garden. Don’t put it directly in your garden, though, but only in areas where your plants are not growing.
Soap in a sock hanging here and there will also keep rabbits out and away from your garden. Hang a couple on each side, and your rabbit problem seems to be washed away.
Combining fencing with repellents gives the best results
To be really sure your rabbit problem will stay a thing of the past, combine fencing with at least one of the natural repellents above. While the trenched area with the fencing underneath will keep them from burrowing, there will always be one or two, it seems, that are determined to munch on your favourite, and just-ready-to-be-harvested, plants. Having repellents about will make those that got through the fence want to leave before they can do too much damage.
Protecting trees on your property is also important
Rabbits won’t just munch on your garden, although the prime time for them to do this is spring and summer, but when fall and winter hit your area rabbits can damage your trees, particularly the younger ones, by chewing on the lower areas of the trunk. They do this because the bark’s interior has green areas, and this replaces the vegetation that is now either too dry, or snow-covered. The same type of chicken wire can help protect your young trees. Wrap the chicken wire around the trunk loosely, and wire it together. Don’t staple it to the trunk. When it becomes too tight, it can easily be removed before becoming embedded in the trunk it is designed to protect. It should be at least three foot off the ground to provide adequate protection.
About the Author
Matthew Suter is Managing Director of Fencemakers, a leading provider of Gates and Fencing in Perth, WA. Find Matthew on Google+. contact them for all your rabbit proof fencing needs.