I have a resident adolescent bunny who is making short work of my perennials. (S)he seems to a particular taste for the tender shoots and flowering stems of my perennials as well as the brand new seedlings and transplants that I set out. Grrr..... I have tried various potients (rotten eggs, DE) as well as store purchased products promising to deter rabbits, deer, etc. One of them reeked so badly that we all had to avoid the garden for a bit and my dear hubbie even took off in the car! (It was more like hubbie deterrent). Soooo........I am now trying actual barriers thinking if I can just get the transplants up and running, they won't be so appealing. This is a Knock-Out Rose. It used to be 2X as big.... ( photo / image / picture from Cayuga Morning's Garden ) Pathetic, isn't it? This is(was) a delphinium. ( photo / image / picture from Cayuga Morning's Garden ) Sigh ( photo / image / picture from Cayuga Morning's Garden ) Elsewhere in the garden, deer are the problem. I have discovered that stringing monofilament (fish line) around the garden is an effective deterrent. At least it has been this spring/summer. I suppose they may figure it out eventually. Anybody else found effective deterrents? Monofilament is working to scare the deer off, at least so far. ( photo / image / picture from Cayuga Morning's Garden )
I made cages of chicken wire to keep a family of rabbits from dining on my plants a few years ago. I think our neighbors made rabbit stew so that's no longer a problem. I have read that if you make a barrier around your yard/garden of plants that have pointy leaves or thorns or plants that are known to actually repel deer, it will keep them away from the plants they consider free food. Fences work too, not short ones but a tall 6-8 foot privacy fence.
Our CATS are excellent rabbit hunters....Beagles are great hunters. see if there is anybody with a few that are willing to come flush them out and get rid of them for you. They are edible and there are people who eat what they hunt, not just for the sport of hunting them. Or maybe you can't because of hunting regulations in your state, but it wouldn't hurt to see.
