While rabbits are cute to look at, especially as babies, they can really damage both your vegetable and flower gardens. If you’re looking for how to keep rabbits out of the garden, I have some tried and true ways to keep your garden safe from rabbits.
How To Keep Rabbits Out Of The Garden
What You'll Be Needing:
If you garden, you’re sure to have some garden enemies. As you prepare for your garden every year, keep in mind that if you plant the rabbit’s favorite veggies and flowers, they’ll come for a visit. What do they like? Lots of your veggies and flowers.
Plants that rabbits eat
You may wonder what are the rabbits’ favorite plants to eat. They LOVE fresh veggies from your garden. Bunnies will always nibble on these:
- lettuce
- cucumbers
- carrots
- peas
- beets
- peppers
- swiss chard
- beans
- and more
Rabbits don’t just love your fruit and vegetable garden: they adore many of your beautiful flowers! Here are just a few:
- clematis
- con flowers
- nasturtium
- petunias
- sunflowers
- zinnias
- hostas
- phlox
- tulips
- etc. the list is very long
If you plant any of these flowers and veggies, you’ll need to find ways to keep rabbits away from your garden. I asked my Facebook followers what they do to keep rabbits away from the vegetables, and got lots of ideas. I’ll share them below, but first, let’s see what plants rabbits hate.
Plants that rabbits hate
If you plant flowers and vegetables that rabbits love, you’ll struggle to keep them away from your garden. But you can plant some plants that rabbits won’t eat: herbs and flowers that are heavily scented and are known to be avoided by rabbits. Here are just a few:
- marigolds
- lavender
- sage
- columbine
- delphinium
- bee balm
- lemon balm
- catnip
- periwinkle
- yarrow
There are many other plants rabbits won’t eat, but these are a few you can plant right away while you research what else to plant.
1. Electronic rabbit repellent
Hoont Powerful Solar Battery Powered Ultrasonic Outdoor Pest and Animal Repeller
This is by far my favorite method of keeping rabbits away from my garden.
It’s inexpensive, and it not harmful to anything in my garden: just keeps critters away (not only rabbits but also squirrels, skunks, rats, raccoons, mice and so much more).
There are many models on the market today, but I prefer this solar battery-powered ultrasonic outdoor animal & pest repeller – it’s motion-activated and makes it almost hands-free (I prefer to move it around the yard occasionally to make sure I cover all areas.
If you struggle with unwanted critters in your garden and around your home, you need to give this a try.
2. Use a rabbit proof garden fence
Probably one of the most efficient ways to keep rabbits out of your vegetable garden is to build a fence around the garden. It doesn’t have to be too tall unless you want to protect your garden from deer too.
Chicken wire works well for this: just make sure you bury the bottom of the fence into the ground so that the bunnies can’t crawl under.
A similar idea is to use floating row covers at night (that’s when rabbits love to roam the garden).
3. Use plants that repel rabbits in your garden
Rabbits love young, fresh, delicate veggies, but they don’t care much for strong scented herbs and flowers.
Plants that keep rabbits away
Here are some plants that deter rabbits. Plant a few of them around the garden to keep the bunnies out.
- marigolds – planted all around your garden will create a rabbit barrier (they hate the smell of the marigolds)
- spicy globe basil – keep the bunnies out and make lots of pesto throughout the summer
- Christmas basil also works well
- onions
- leeks
- lavender
- mint
- oregano
4. Outdoor pets can help keep rabbits away
Our beloved pets are very helpful in keeping bunnies out of the backyard. It’s not only the fact that they’ll chase the rabbits away, but the smell of the dog or cat hair and urine is enough to keep them away.
5. Remove the optimal conditions for rabbits
Rabbits will only stick around places where they can take cover from predators. Keep your garden area organized and free of garden debris. Piles of leaves, rocks, dry plants, buckets, etc make it easy for the rabbits to hide. Also, get rid of tall grass and low bushes.
6. Keep them away with these repellents
- There’s a product called Repels All. The smell keeps rabbits out and works for other critters too.
- You can also add used coffee grounds, eggshells, and banana peels around your garden and it seems to work for some.
- Using ground black pepper can work, and it will keep ants away too.
- Spray some Tabasco with water on your plants: they’ll nibble a bit, but stop once they taste Tabasco
- Use a natural deterrent for rabbits and small critters, like PLANTSKYD (it saved a friend’s roses and tulips last spring).
- Irish Spring bar soap: cut the bars into 4-6 pieces, wrap a string around it and hang on your garden fence low enough at the rabbit level. You can also hang them on spikes near veggies. Or, drop pieces of soap into old socks and place around the garden.
- Try an owl decoy: rabbits are scared of owls.
7. Scare the rabbits away
Use an old hose to wrap through the garden: it works surprisingly well. The bunnies think it is a snake, and no one wants to share space with a snake.
Place pinwheels around your garden: the motion from them spinning and the sound will keep rabbits away from the garden. They will also scare birds away (this will save your tomatoes too!!!)
Related: do you have squirrels eating your bird feed? Try one of these methods to keep them away from your bird feeders.
8. Catch rabbits in a live trap
This might be lots of work for some, and fun for others. It’s not a one-time method, so requires repeating periodically, as new rabbits move into your garden.
If you decide you want to use this method, make sure you have a place to take your rabbits to, but more importantly, make sure it’s legal to do this where you live.
Need a live trap? This one’s my favorite.
What bait should you use for the live trap? You have a few choices: rabbit pellets, carrots or cut up apples.
9. Embrace the rabbits
For some of us, rabbits bring a smile and we just want to coexist. Rabbits are hungry too, so we might put food out for them.
Plant what rabbits want. Do it away from your garden, and you’ll be able to keep your garden safe and enjoy the little hoppers in your yard too.
Outsidepride Red Clover Seed: Nitro-Coated, Inoculated – 5 LBSDavid’s Garden Seeds Bean Soy Envy D105A (Green) 100 Organic SeedsOutsidepride White Dutch Clover Seed: Nitro-Coated, Inoculated – 5 LBS
DYI rabbit repellent
You can make a homemade rabbit repellent from a few ingredients you’re sure to have in your house: add equal parts of the following ingredients in a gallon of water, shake well and leave in the sun for about 2 days.
- cayenne pepper
- garlic powder (or you can use fresh if you prefer)
- dish soap
After 2 days, strain the liquid, add to a spray bottle and spray around the plants you want to protect from rabbits.
If you’d like more choices, take a look at this video for another idea:
I hope you found here something that will work out for you in your fight to keep rabbits out of the garden. If you use different methods, please share in the comments: it could save someone’s veggie garden or flower beds.
A rabbit got into our garden and devoured the marigolds we had planted there. So much for that one.
Unfortunately, when there’s noting else, they’ll eat anything. Plant a patch of clover away form your flowers and they’ll get busy there.
I use Critter Ridder, which seems to help.
Call for Yosemite Sam, he’ll get rid of those waskly rabbits for you. Just a little bunny humor….:)
One year I planted catnip along side the house for my cats. The cats could have cared less. The bunnies loved it. But the catnip didn’t like the bunnies. We found several smaller ones dead around it. I had no clue it was poisonous to them until I researched. @Sorrynotsorry
A shotgun works well.
Maybe for some, but not for me.
I wish I could shoot. I have no more pity for bunnies. They are eating all my peas , about half are gone. The expensive broccoli and cauliflower plants I drove all over 2 counties to find , they are eating those too. What is left i have under milk jugs. They don’t like the heat and are quickly outgrowing them. They are eating everything I plant , just too many of them.
I’m sorry you are having so much trouble. Have you tried some of the tips on this page?
Planted Lavender because the bunnies didn’t like it but I can’t keep the bunnies out of my Lavender. They are eating it all.
I must be the only critter lover here, and grows veggies and roses. I’d rather live with them, but of choose I prefer a garden not a yard.
As far as the safe trap, I do not recommend that at all.
You are trapping a prey animal and leaving it at night to he whim of predators. That situation can cause extreme injury and death to the rabbit. Im hoping that’s not the desired result.
There is a device called THE SCARECROW. similar to the one the author mentions above. No harm to any wildlife.
There are a myriad of beautiful plants that rabbits don’t like.
You can always test a few before planting.
I have my raised beds secured, but I share the bounty. I place a few leaves of romaine or red leaf or a few carrot tops tucked under the bushes late in the afternoon for the buns to find for their dinner.
Seems to keep them happy. And I enjoy seeing them playing in the yard knowing their safe.
Jill, I love bunnies and other creatures too. But we have a tiny backyard and very limited space to grow food for our family. I’ll check out the scarecrow you suggested 🙂
Clearly the author did not intend for that to be the “desired outcome.” Your comment is entirely condescending. Get off your high horse .
I used chicken wire the first time and watched rabbits slide through it in a hurry. Next time I used a small meshband stronger wire and buried the borrom ss suggested. It WORKS!
Ugh Bunny is already feasting on my freshly planted 14 blue salvias! We chose after last years’ coneflowers got chewed up totally. Also just planted lavender…. here we go! I have cayenne sprinkled so far, will use bone meal around perimeter, and buying a new supply of the rabbit scram. These are visible perennial beds in our yard, so need to keep nice looking. Thx for all ideas..
Wi have a very big dog and a beagle in a fenced in yard that are out numerous times a day. Two years in a row I’ve had a rabbit have her babies in my flower beds . I am getting very good at building fences around the nest so the dogs don’t kill the babies. So much for rabbits being afraid of dogs.
Early on I loved seeing the bunnies and I didn’t mind sharing some of what I grew but the foxes died and the bunnies became so prolific that my sand box, my grass and porch became unusable to my grandchildren because of the amount of bunny droppings. The bunnies ate my tulips before they bloomed and severed the tops of my new flats of flowers. On top of that I found out that bunnies can carry a disease that can be spread through their droppings which if it enters a cut or is inhaled by us when gardening can be deadly to us. I found out because it occurred in a near by county. It is not possible to guarantee your bunnies will stay healthy. How I feel today is the bottom line is that bunnies are rodents and although I still love seeing them, it is important to know to be careful to protect your health and living space by preventing them from feeling too comfortable in your space. Thank you for writing this article. May you be blessed with a healthy balance an may your kind hearts be blessed to stay healthy and well.
I put an electric fence up around my garden about 4 inches from the ground. It also helps keep the squirrels out too. Works great.
My rabbits ate my mother’s marigolds when I was a teen. There was a lot of food available for them. They dug them up, and even ate the roots.
Moths balls, works good . !!!
They’d probably work, but mothballs are toxic. I personally wouldn’t use those in my garden.
It seems rabbits out smart all tactics
After a bunny ate alot of my sweet peas and gr.beans, I asked my beautician to save me all of the hair from her shop. I tossed pieces of human hair along the row of beans and peas. The rabbit has left them alone ! Will probably have to replace after the rain. Was told by Dirtdoctor.com to push hair down around the squash plant stems to ward off the vine borers, so far so good !