Greengirls » Blog Archive » The rabbit-proof fence

The rabbit-proof fence

Posted on June 10th, 2008 – 8:22 AM
By Jaime Chismar

Today’s post comes from our rabbit-obsessed coworker, Colleen:

In my garden, this spring has been marked by two things: the unrelenting cool weather and an increasingly pitched battle with rabbits.

It all started when I found a large area of rabbit droppings between a fence and a neighbor’s hedge. Generally, I am unfazed by the random eaten plant, but, after an afternoon of removing buckets full of rabbit droppings and nasty urine-soaked mulch, I was decidedly anti-rabbit.

Phase One: I went to a nearby garden store for some rabbit repellent recommendations and returned home with dried blood flakes and a spicy, smelly powder called Shake Away. After drying out the landscaping fabric, removing the old mulch and laying new stuff down, I liberally applied both products and assumed that my problem was solved.

So naive!

Phase Two: The rabbits continued their unwelcomed visits. I tried two more products — Liquid Fence and Critter Ridder. Then I noticed a young clematis seemed to be dying, although it had been flourishing and even had a bud or two on it. I locked closer and noticed that the base stalk had been gnawed through. Then a hosta bit the dust. Then some pansies — and even a petunia.

The final straw was my beautiful multicolored clover — atropurpureum (trifolium repens). It was the centerpiece of a tiny new rock garden near our back gate. (In the photo, it’s in the center, with Irish moss on either side.) The damage was severe. The rabbits had left it alone for weeks, then poof… only one leaf remaining.

Phase Three: I surveyed the black chain-link fence around our yard. It is very low to the ground and there are only a couple of rabbit-sized spots where an unwelcomed visitor could slip inside. I decided to close off these holes with chicken wire. After a couple of hours of work that left my arms a battleground of scratches, I smugly looked at the yard.

Ha! Impervious to intrusion! Take that, rabbits.

Before I left for work, I sent an e-mail to my husband informing him of the… um… situation. He and our two girls would have to be careful when opening and closing the gates due to the the overlapping chicken wire and sharp points.

Three hours later, he e-mailed me this photo:

Phase Four: Acceptance? Something tells me this is a battle I’m not going to win. How have you fought back against rabbits? What did you do? I’d love to know your secrets.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 at 8:22 am and is filed under Critters + vermin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

22 Responses to "The rabbit-proof fence"

Chris Lilyerd says:

June 10th, 2008 at 8:54 am

I started leaving feed out for the rabbits 4 years ago and they’ve never eaten anything since. Cracked corn and a few carrots here and their. All of my flowers are in perfect shape ever since than. The year before, yes, they eat everything over and over again. Now we have a understanding with each other. They get good food and I get my flowers.

Sandra says:

June 10th, 2008 at 9:46 am

Ha, Colleen may not want to hear this but I feed them too! Cracked corn, wilted lettuce, carrots, apple slices, etc. I have a little ‘feeding station’ in the far corner of the yard, and I never see them anywhere else now. I don’t know who has out-foxed who, but it seems to be working.

christagirl says:

June 10th, 2008 at 9:54 am

Oh! Fellow rabbit feeders! My husband feeds them also and they kindly leave my flowers and plants alone. So far…so good!

Tracy says:

June 10th, 2008 at 10:03 am

Hmmmm - After reading the first three comments, I may have to try feeding my neighborhood bunnies. Right now, I’m fencing my veggie beds with rabbit fencing (which I hate, hate, hate) and using Deer Off on the other plants. I’ve found Deer Off works better for me than Liquid Fence. Also, don’t even bother spraying the perimeter of the garden with these products - just spray the plants directly. And spray everything. Just this weekend I discovered the rabbits are eating my echinacea and black eyed susans.

Jaime Chismar says:

June 10th, 2008 at 10:05 am

This weekend, rabbits dug up my strawberry plants but left my salad greens and kale alone. Their tastes are truly baffling!

judybusy says:

June 10th, 2008 at 11:15 am

Um, for a more active approach, read this NYT article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/garden/05animals.html?scp=5&sq=garden+animals&st=nyt

I haven’t yet resorted to any of this, but I did notice my newly planted beets disappeared while I was away this weekend. And, yes, I’m still bitter about the damage they did to my new azalea over the winter.

Darcie says:

June 10th, 2008 at 11:24 am

ugh - those pesky things! I didn’t get a SINGLE SOLITARY TULIP this spring and my lilies are chewed down to nubbins and don’t even get me started on what they have done to two of my burning bushes over the winter! WHAT! BURNING BUSHES!

mel says:

June 10th, 2008 at 11:46 am

Our rabbit problem had been the bane of my existence- I had tried everything. I am pleased to say this year, perhaps due in part to a real MN winter, but also directly related to a 16-year-old neighbor with a pellet gun, the problem has been resolved. I do have mixed feelings about the pellet gun…

Jaime Chismar says:

June 10th, 2008 at 11:46 am

Fiona sent me a link to that NYT article, too! It’s a great read.

As much as I hate rabbits and squirrels, I don’t think I could drown them in my rain barrel.

debw says:

June 10th, 2008 at 12:18 pm

At last SOMETHING that the husbands beagle/bassett is good for (besides comic relief). He runs down rabbits and squirrels and keeps the property free of vermin. The fact that the back yard has been piddled on must also keep the bunnies at bay. Now if he wasn’t so darn chummy to that salad eating cat next door we could have leaf lettuce.

Brian says:

June 10th, 2008 at 12:34 pm

Havahart Live Traps and relocation.

Connie Nelson says:

June 10th, 2008 at 4:12 pm

Last time I checked, it was illegal to live trap and relocate nusiance animals (aka rabbits), but not illegal to kill them. But who could kill a cute, litte bunny?

Jennifer Twin Mom says:

June 10th, 2008 at 6:43 pm

How odd. My Watership-Down-sized warren of rabbits that lives underneath my ground-level deck LOVES my early spring bulbs but leaves everything else alone. I’m not taking any chances with my vegetable garden though; I have a rabbit fence completely surrounding it, and it is buried 3 in. into the ground so they can’t dig underneath it. Ugly? Yes. Effective? Definitely.

I guess I’m lucky though concerning my many varied other plants that they don’t touch. I even brazenly planted two peppers and a potato plant right outside of their back door and they haven’t touched them yet.

Someone suggested human hair spread around plants to scare them off. It seemed to help a little bit this spring. Moth balls also seemed to help, but then after a couple weeks I couldn’t stand it anymore and had to remove them. Those things smell awful.

JM says:

June 10th, 2008 at 10:01 pm

A BB gun and good aim does a good job against them. Just shoot them … with so many around, who cares?

Sandra says:

June 11th, 2008 at 9:52 am

FWIW I have heard that the smell of CAT can keep them away, so some people sprinkle used cat litter around their gardens. But that seems kinda gross to me!

If anyone wants to try it, I have an endless supply of used cat litter I can share though.

Bill says:

June 11th, 2008 at 1:44 pm

We had rabit tracks all over our yard all winter long. I think they may have even had a nest under our deck. This spring a feral cat moved into the neighborhood and I haven’t seen a bunny since!

Cindy says:

June 12th, 2008 at 12:46 pm

I have mixed feelings about bunnies. I am a great Beatrix Potter collector and owner of several feet of fence. Feeding them sounds good. I keep kittens milk on hand in case I find an orphan.I do have to say though, they did have me thinking I was a horrible gardener. I didn’t see any and I thought I was killing my plants. Hence…the mixed feelings

Colleen says:

June 12th, 2008 at 8:26 pm

Here’s an update: We have since realized that only a smallish neighborhood rabbit can get in the yard… and it’s by squeezing through the chain link fence itself (amazing, but we’ve seen it do it.) The full-size adults are relegated to the clover in the front yard, which is fine with me.

Michele says:

June 12th, 2008 at 10:23 pm

I have planted white clover in the lawn for years and the bunnies really seem to like it. Many mornings I look out at my intact garden to see bunnies munching on the lawn clover.

Melanie says:

June 13th, 2008 at 3:39 pm

After years of frustration with the rabbits that seem to be taking over the city of Apple Valley,(and apparently, beyond!)and after trying all the remedies I’ve just read,I am indebted to my neighbor cat, Carmel, who has just become an “outdoor” cat.I so enjoy looking at plants I haven’t seen in years. Carmel is my hero!

Sandra says:

June 16th, 2008 at 8:35 am

One more thing to add to the bunny debate. I too had hundreds of glorious tulip bulbs disappear after planting but I came up with a cunning plan that I’m going to instigate this fall. Since they only bother the newly planeted bulbs (rather than old established tulips) the trick is to keep the bulbs safe until they’ve gotten themselves established, right? So, this year after planting hundreds of bulbs, I’m then going to lay chicken wire over the area, and leave it there ALL FALL, maybe all winter. Lift the chicken wire in Spring so the tulips can grow. Voila.

I’ll let you know if the cunning plan actually works next Spring.

Jaime Chismar says:

June 17th, 2008 at 10:45 am

Great plan, Sandra. I noticed the same thing. I may just copy you.