If your trying to repel rabbits with mothballs, coyote urine, human hair, marigolds, or a myriad of other home remedies, give up! They just don't work.

I have people come in the office and tell me that their remedy works just great. But then I've had ten others tell me they used the same remedy with no results.

What is tried and true when it comes to keeping rabbits out of the garden is a physical barrier. Anything strong enough and high enough to keep rabbits from punching through or jumping over will work.

At the Extension Center Demonstration Gardens we almost exclusively use one inch mesh chicken wire. We have a perimeter fence that's two foot high, running around the entire garden area. The bottom of the fence is buried a few inches down into the soil to hold the bottom securely in place. This will also discourage rabbits from digging under the fence. The fence is supported every six or eight feet with steel fence posts. Granted it's not the most attractive fence, but it's functional and it works.

Occasionally, rabbits find their way through our perimeter fence, usually through open gates. For these intruders we have also circled individual plants or plantings we know they find particularly tasty. Leafy greens like lettuce, mustard, spinach, and chard are favorites. Most any young, tender plant, be it vegetable, flower, shrub or tree are fair game for rabbits.

Raised beds, if their raised high enough, is also a deterrent to rabbits. Even a bed built up 18 inches high will provide a deterrent. Some nibbling will occur on the edges, but that can be tolerated. We make our raised beds out of various materials including; concrete block, slump block, and pressure treated 4 by 4's.

Cages can be built over raised beds to exclude more than rabbits. Here at the Extension office we have devised a very effective cage built from concrete reinforcing bars, reinforcing wire and chicken wire. The bars are bent into half circles and concrete reinforcing wire is attached. Finally, the frame is covered with a one inch mesh chicken wire skin. Chicken wire placed in the bottom of the raised bed or planter will keep burrowing ground squirrels from tunneling up from below. You can see our cages demonstrated in our gardens here at the Extension Center which is located at 4210 N. Campbell Avenue.

Taste repellents have limited success. 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.

Trapping is another method of controlling rabbits, but is best used in combination with fencing. Several excellent styles of live traps, also known as "have-a heart", are available from garden centers, hardware stores, and seed catalogs.

Traps should be placed around the garden. Keep the traps near cover so that rabbits won't have to cross large open spaces to get to them. Check traps daily to replenish bait or remove any trapped rabbits. Forgetting to check the trap, even for one day, could result in the inhumane death of a captured rabbit.

Apples, carrots, cabbage, and other fresh green vegetables are good baits. A good bait for garden traps is a cabbage leaf rolled tightly and held together by a toothpick. For best results, use baits that are similar to what your rabbits are feeding on.

Release rabbits in rural areas several miles form where they have been trapped. Do not release them where they may create a problem for someone else.

A final suggestion; if all else fails, plant some extra greens for the rabbits. If your lucky you'll end up with enough for you, your family, and the rabbits.

Written by John Begeman, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the University of Arizona, 520-626-5161.
Material originally appeared in Arizona Daily Star gardening column, on September 05, 1999
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