5 Sustainable Techniques to Keep Rabbits Out of a Garden

Here are a few methods applied with our sustainable gardening services to help keep rabbits out of certain garden zones while still providing refuge to these cute critters. After all, rabbits play critical roles in ecosystems, while we’re the ones intruding on their habitat!

 

How to Sustainably Keep Rabbits Out of a Garden

Before we get into it, allow us to mention that rabbits are critical to our environment. Yes, they might eat a lot, damaging aspects of your garden in doing so. But their presence will help maintain soil health and biodiversity, an essential component of sustainability. Rabbits aren’t a bad thing, but you can still aim to keep them away from certain areas of your garden with:

 

Physical Barriers

 

Physical barriers are the best way to keep rabbits out of the more edible areas of your sustainable garden. Block off certain zones of fruits, vegetables, or other plants that rabbits enjoy munching on by creating a physical barrier with either a fence, net, or wire. 

 

If choosing a fence, ensure it’s high enough (at least four feet) and dug deep enough into the ground to prevent rabbits from sneaking in. 

 

Plant High

Raised garden beds are a superlative choice if you’re looking to grow food for the family. This way, the rabbits don’t have access to your vegetables, but they can still utilize other areas of your landscape as a potential home should you not mind sharing the space.

 

Consider planting edibles in hanging pots, old barrels, or containers a few feet off the ground, as the rabbits won’t be jumping up there for dinner!

 

100% Organic Repellent

If you buy chemical rabbit repellent, it might work well, but these chemicals are incredibly harmful to the environment and your body. So bye-bye commercial products and hello DIY rabbit repellent!

 

Try blending onion, red peppers, and garlic with water to create a safe-to-use rabbit-repellent spray. Consistently apply this mixture around desired garden zones to keep the rabbits away, doing so every time it rains. If you don’t feel like making this mixture, you can simplify the process by sprinkling red pepper flakes around the garden perimeter. 

 

Some sustainable garden coaches have said that hanging shaved Irish Spring Soap in cloth bags around your home landscape is a smell-good way to keep rabbits out of the garden, so give it a shot if other repellents aren’t doing the job. 

 

And for an easy, proven way out, you can always purchase organic rabbit repellent online or from local garden centers. Just research the product to ensure it is made from 100% organic ingredients and that its application doesn’t harm the environment or any animals!

 

Rabbit Repelling Plants

 

Rabbits aren’t a fan of every plant type. If you have a rabbit problem, switching up the flora to plants that rabbits do not eat is a great way to deter them from your garden. Learn about specific plants that rabbits tend to hate, and identify those native to your area, thus planting them around your garden. 

 

To take it a step further, reducing the availability of a nest is another way to keep rabbits out of the garden. Avoiding low, bushy plants and keeping the ones you have well-trimmed will limit their availability to create a long-term home in your garden. 

 

Scare Them!

 

Scaring rabbits away is a sustainable approach to managing their presence. And we don’t mean scare the poor guys to death- just a little ‘boo’ to keep them at bay!

 

Try placing fake snakes/owls, spinning pinwheels, or other bright, intimidating garden decor around the most edible areas of your garden to steer them away from desired areas. 

 

It’s said that rabbits are scared by their own reflection, so employing reflective objects around the garden is another effective option for rabbit management. You can purchase them from a garden store or make them yourself using anything reflective, such as glass jars filled with water, pie pans, or hit the local thrift shop to find some aesthetically pleasing, reflective garden decor!  

 

Thank you for reading! You can learn more about our gardening services or our franchising opportunities here.