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Index : Pests
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- 5. *Rabbits Running Rampant*- Coming to a Garden near You this Fall - - Top
- Abundant rainfall has provided for the growth of lots of desert vegetation - resources for an explosion in the population of rabbits and other wildlife. As our summer rains come to an end and the dry season begins, grasses and other seasonal vegetation will die. As a result, all those rabbits will be looking for new sources of food - namely your garden and landscape. So, now is the time to make preparations to protect your valuable plants.
The most effective way to ward off rabbits is with fencing. Physical barriers such as chicken wire and other types of wire mesh are very effective in keeping rabbits out. You can encircle and entire garden bed or make small cylinders of wire to protect individual plants. The minimum height of the wire fencing should be 24 inches.
As rabbits have the ability to dig, the fencing should be buried an inch or two into the soil. Rabbits may also try pushing the fencing down, so if you have a run of fencing around a garden bed, support the wire with stakes placed every 3 feet. Individual plant cages can be supported using a single stake. The most durable and easiest stakes to install are cut pieces of concrete reinforcing bars. These bars are available in 2 and 3 feet lengths at area home supply stores. Rolls of wire are also sold at home supply and hardware stores in two foot widths.
Chicken wire fencing with one-inch mesh openings is adequate for rabbits. But if you have problems with our ‘chipmunk-like’ ground squirrels, you use the finer wire mesh of hardware cloth (also called woven wire) which comes in one-half and one-quarter inch openings. This thicker hardware cloth will stand on its own without staking, when circling individual plants.
I’m often asked if there are rabbit-proof plants. Actually there are a few that rabbits will rarely touch. Plants like Rosemary, Lantana, Lavender, Jojoba and Texas Ranger are not on most rabbits grocery list. Leafy greens are the food of choice. However, most garden and landscape plants will be attacked if rabbits are hungry enough. Besides vegetables and flowers, tender young shrubs and the bark of young trees are also rabbit favorites.
In addition to fencing, many home gardeners use taste repellents to ward off rabbits. Unfortunately, taste repellents are not reliable. Some people have reported good success using hot pepper sauce diluted in water and sprayed on the plants. Try one tablespoon per gallon and include a small amount of spreader sticker to keep it on the plant. Commercial, ammonium based, taste repellents are also available from garden centers and nurseries. These provide mixed results. Again, if rabbits are hungry enough they’ll overcome the bad taste.
One product that has been very successful against rabbits is an odor repellent called ‘Liquid Fence’. It’s a garlic based product that is harmless to humans, pets and wildlife, but it does stink! The smell is so foul that you’ll need to roll down the windows in your car when taking it home from the garden or hardware store. Liquid fence is sprayed on or around the plants you want to protect. If can be applied directly to garden vegetables without contaminating the fruit. Sprays must be repeated every month or so to maintain the odor barrier. An added bonus - Liquid Fence also repels those pesky javelinas!
Written by John Begeman, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the University of Arizona, 520-626-5161. - Updated: Sept. 18, 2005
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