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You are here: Home / Gardening / Frugal Rabbit Deterrents

Frugal Rabbit Deterrents

April 23, 2010 by Alea Milham 8 Comments

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Some plants like sunflowers, marigolds, and snap dragons which are supposed to be rabbit resistant are still vulnerable  when they are seedlings. I don’t want to wait until my flowers are a foot tall and flowering before I put them outside, so I have developed a few tricks.

One trick is to cut the bottom off of a plant container and then set the container around the young plant.  I use tent stakes or coat hangers inserted into the rim of the inverted pot, to keep it from blowing away:
Frugal Rabbit Deterrents Once the plant is big enough, strong enough, prickly enough or stinky enough, I remove the protective container.

Another trick is to use a plant that the rabbits always find repulsive as a repellent:
Frugal Rabbit Deterrents
Since my rabbits do not like Russian Sage, I plant a sunflower seed close to the plant and surround it when it is most vulnerable with the dead branches of the Russian Sage (they retain the smell).
Frugal Rabbit DeterrentsOnce the sunflower is about a foot high and has developed a thick coat of fuzz the rabbits won’t touch it and I can remove the dead branches. I also plant many of my flowering bulbs in close proximity to my Russian Sage and scatter dead sage branches around my flower beds in the spring.

I protect my young trees with a simple piece of paper:
Frugal Rabbit Deterrents The paper on this Emerald Queen Norwegian Maple prevents the rabbits from gnawing on it in the winter. To do this cut a piece of 18 inch paper, 4 inches longer than the circumference of the tree. Wrap the paper around the tree, overlap by at least an inch and tape it closed.

I make my own rabbit repellent, but it needs to be reapplied after precipitation. Using frugal, semi-permanent protection from the rabbits ensures that I don’t lose all of my flowers after every rain shower! Do you have to contend with rabbits or other pests in your yard? How do you protect your plants? Please share your ideas or links in the comment section.

To read about more frugal tips, visit Frugal Friday.

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About Alea Milham

Alea Milham is the owner of Premeditated Leftovers and the author of Prep-Ahead Meals from Scatch. She shares her tips for saving money and time while reducing waste in her home. Her favorite hobby, gardening, is a frugal source of organic produce for her recipes. She believes it is possible to live fully and eat well while spending less.

Comments

  1. Renee says

    June 15, 2020 at 5:38 am

    I once had to find and replant tomatoes twice. I thought tomato plants were toxic! Apparently, they were a treat for a local ground hog as it would gobble them down in no time at all. Also, the flowers on my petunias.

    Reply
  2. Kathy says

    April 26, 2019 at 3:53 pm

    Another thing that works well to keep rabbits away is dog hair! I take a plastic grocery bag to a nearby dog “salon” at Pet’s Mart and ask for a bagfull of their cut-off dog-hair (which they are happy to supply), take it home, and surround my especially vulnerable plants (like lettuce and spinach) with it. Works like magic!

    Reply
    • Linda Hurd says

      June 13, 2020 at 10:35 am

      thank you we have a border collie and he is ready to cool down for the summer. The rest of his hair is for needle felting

      Reply
  3. Eleanor Buchanan says

    May 23, 2017 at 11:07 am

    Will the homemade Rabbit repelant burn my vegetable plants??? Have peppers, tomatoes, squash and cucumbers all in pots. Some how the critters still reach them.

    Reply
    • Alea Milham says

      May 23, 2017 at 12:27 pm

      It shouldn’t, but test it on a small area first. AND be sure to rinse well before eating!

      Reply
  4. Dee says

    May 13, 2017 at 10:31 am

    Giving you rabbit repellent recipe a try. Not sure how good it will work since the neighbor has this huge pile of brush next to our property line & he refuses to do anything with it! ………….

    Thanks for the tip!

    Reply
  5. Dragonfly Treasure says

    April 24, 2010 at 1:11 am

    Great tips. Didn't know about the Russian Sage
    *hugs*deb

    Reply
  6. [email protected] to Charm says

    April 24, 2010 at 12:27 am

    I didn't know that about Russian Sage. I haven't had a problem yet with rabbits, but if I do, I'll know now what to do. I have a little bit of Russian Sage. Maybe I should get some more. Thanks for sharing. The only annoying critter I have is a ground hog. He doesn't bother my plants. He just makes my lawn look like you-know. The best thing to do is flush his tunnels with water. But he sometimes comes back again and again. Oh, well.

    Reply

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Welcome. I'm Alea!

On Premeditated Leftovers I share simple recipes made with whole foods, practical shopping tips, time saving techniques, and meal planning strategies. I also share tips for minimizing food waste, so more of the food that is purchased ends up on the table.

While volunteering as a budget counselor, I realized that food is the element of most people’s budgets where they have the greatest control. I set out to develop low-cost recipes from scratch to prove it’s possible to create delicious meals on a limited budget. Eating well while spending less is about more than just creating recipes using inexpensive ingredients; it’s about creatively combining ingredients so you don’t feel deprived and are inspired to stick to your budget.

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