If you need a way to deter rabbits from eating your flowers, try this organic rabbit repellent recipe. It uses garlic and crushed red peppers to repel the rabbits naturally without damaging your plants.
If you have had any contact with me in the last three years, you know that I struggle with rabbits. I have annuals hanging in baskets far out of reach of the rabbits and my vegetables growing safely behind chicken wire, but I really wanted to see some bulbs come up out of the ground unobstructed. When I found tulip bulbs on sale for $1.00 a bag at Walmart last fall I decided to try them in my yard. As you can see from the picture below, it didn’t start so well! Then I discovered how to make a natural rabbit repellent at home using common household ingredients.
How to Make Rabbit Repellent
You just need a few items to make this DIY rabbit deterrent: garlic, peppers, dish soap, and an empty milk jug. Once you mix the ingredients, let it sit for at least 6 hours in the sun before applying it to plants. Use this organic rabbit-repellent recipe to deter rabbits from eating your flowers. Reapply after a rain.
DIY Rabbit Repellent Recipe
Items needed:
- empty milk jug
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon crushed red peppers
- 1-gallon water
- 1 tablespoon dish soap
Directions:
- To make the repellent fill an old milk jug with water, add 5 crushed garlic cloves, a teaspoon of crushed red peppers (you can save a packet from the pizza delivery) and 1 tablespoon of dish soap.
- Shake well; then let it sit in the sun for a day or two to ensure the water is saturated with the flavors and smells.
- Shake well, then spray or pour the deterrent on the plants you don’t want the rabbits to eat.
I had to reapply the rabbit repellent once a week for a couple of weeks to convince the rabbits that my tulips were never going to taste good again. With my other bulbs, I sprayed them with the natural rabbit repellent as soon as they started to poke through the ground and then reapplied the repellent once a week and after it rains.
Flowers before I started applying my homemade rabbit repellent:
Flowers treated with the homemade rabbit repellent:
You will notice that the tulips treated with my DIY rabbit repellent survived unscathed!Printable Recipe for Homemade Rabbit Repellent
Homemade Rabbit Repellent Recipe
Equipment
- empty milk jug
Materials
- 5 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 teaspoon crushed red peppers
- 1- gallon water
- 1 tablespoon dish soap
Instructions
- To make the repellent fill an old milk jug with water, add 5 crushed garlic cloves, a teaspoon of crushed red peppers, and 1 tablespoon of dish soap.
- Shake well; then let it sit in the sun for a day or two to ensure the water is saturated with the flavors and smells.
- After the mixture has sat in the sun for at least one day, shake it well, then spray or pour the deterrent on the plants you don't want the rabbits to eat.
Notes
More Frugal Gardening Tips:
How to Make a Planter Out of a Tree Stump
Tips for Extending a Short Growing Season
How to Make a Mini-Greenhouse with Recycled Items
Fast and Easy Compost Pile Using Hay Bales
How to Extend Your Growing Season with a Container Garden
Grow More In Your Square Foot Garden with Succession Planting
This Rabbit Deterrent Tutorial was originally published on June 6, 2013. It was updated on April 4, 2024, to include printable directions.
Shelley says
Thanks for the recipe. I have tried everything to keep the rabbits from eating my flowers besides putting fencing around the beds, which I didn’t want to do because it looks bad. They eat even flowers like marigolds right down to the ground. I don’t have a lot of money to spend on flowers only to have them eaten the day after I plant them. Do you think garlic powder and cayenne pepper would work also? I have them on hand right now, otherwise I have to wait until I get to town to buy the ingredients.
Christine harding says
The hotter your pepper is the better. And borrow a dog.
laura says
Does this work on veggies too (when the plants are first growing abd the rabbits like to eat them, not so much when the veggies are out)? Would it be bad for the plants?
Alea Milham says
Yes, it does. Though I put 3 foot high chicken wire around my vegetable garden.
Nancy says
Can this be used safely on the grass?
Thank you!
Alea Milham says
Yes, it can.
Bobbe says
I tried the human hair…placed it around a daisy plant. It worked, for about a week. I had my husband go out and….urinate on my flower bed. This worked, for 2 days. I’ve tried the liquid fence…it kind of works…kind of not. So I’m going to try this. Is this necessary to reapply after a rain??
Alea Milham says
Yes, you must reapply after a rain.
Esther says
Is there something special about red pepper? I have a variety of very hot dried peppers in addition to red in my kitchen, such as ghost and habanero. Would crushing those and adding to the red work as well? The critters in my neighborhood seem to be networking….and seem to have developed quite the appetite over the long winter!
Alea Milham says
Any dried peppers that are really hot should work. Good luck discouraging the critters!
Christine harding says
Its hot even on their tong.
Fran G. says
I actually suggested to a friend who was having trouble with deer eating her plants that she try this. She only used red pepper flakes steeped in water, but she said it worked!! So I think this is a ‘critter repellent’, not just a rabbit repellent.
Alea Milham says
Good to know! I have a 6 foot high fence around our property that keeps many of the wild animals off of our property, so I haven’t been able to try it out on deer.
Bob Shamaert says
Keeping deer out of my garden was a snap after an old timer up in Montana shared a great trick with me; pound some 4 or 5 foot all stakes in the corners of the garden and then get some clear fishing line. the lighter the better. Tie the line to the stakes as if you are making a 3 strand wire fence. I watched the deer head straight for my strawberries and when they walked into the fishing line the lead deer did a back flip. they stood there with these astonished looks on their faces and stomping their front feet. Another deer in the group of 3 deer there tried it too and when she walked in to the fishing line about jumped out of her hide and all 3 took off like a shot…..never had trouble with deer getting in to my veggie garden again.
Woodlandone says
I could easily do this. And I could use the trees along the perimeter for attachment. Is fishing line strong enough to block the deer from just pushing through?
Christine harding says
I used red ground cayenne pepper and sprinkled it freely on top of my strawberry. the rabbits took another nap right in the middle of it. They had napped there before so I thought I would fix that. But guess I didn’t.
Julie c says
Is the mix safe to apply if you have dogs?
Nanci Haskin says
Is this treatment safe for dogs. I don’t want to use something that will prevent my dog from going in the yard, but he’s taken a liking to eating rabbit poop, which there is plenty of. Any suggestions?
Christine harding says
All dogs will do that mine included.
Colleen McGowan says
I’m looking for a squirrel repellent.
Betty Greenwood says
When we lived in Oklahoma our neighbor had pecan trees. The trees drew squirrels. They ate all my plants until I put windmills in my plants. I guess the movement scared them away.
Jean says
Fox piss. You can get it at any big box store in their hunting section. It comes in a spray bottle. Fox are the only natural predators of the squirrel. Wear latex gloves when you spray it. It stinks but the smell dissipates. Must be reapplied after rain.
kozy says
Fox piss is obtained by caging, torturing and tormenting foxes held in oppressive captivity… think before you buy… what’s more important?
Christine harding says
Get a dog or a cat. That will do it. And don’t feed the birds anymore it will also cause rats to come.
I hung out hummingbird feeders and the squirrels turned upside down and drank the liquid out of the tubes for the birds. off course that was after they chewed to pieces all the yellow bee and bug coverings off. My husband finally strung wire between two pine trees and put the feeder on the wire. That really bothered the squirrels they couldn’t walk the wire to get to it. So they don’t come around it anymore at all.
Alea Milham says
I have 2 Norwegian Forrest cats who are amazing hunters and they cannot keep up with the number of rabbits we have in our area.
Teresa says
They make a bird feed and it has something in it called Heat the birds love it in the squirrels hate it
Judi says
Our elderly neighbor had a beautiful garden she tended the old fashioned way, with hoes, maddox (or mattox), etc. and the area just beyond the garden was unkept – grass grown waist high. Her garden was straighter than any I’d seen plowed with more modern equipment and she had the most beautiful rose bed I’d ever seen. Older people used to know how to lessen damage to their crops naturally and she had tricks I’d never seen in my life. She had placed glass gallon jars – (like the smaller jars we use for canning), one sitting upright half full of water between rows , but I cannot remember if there was one per row. When asked what they were for, she said it scared the rabbits away from the garden area and they didn’t raid her garden with those out there. Neat. Worked for her, I’d be interested if it worked for anyone else since I can no longer tend a garden.
Lynne P says
Anyone hear of using human hair clippings to keep bunnies away?
I need a suggestion to keep them from chewing the electric wires to the lights I have in the flower bed. They chewed right through them & started on the thicker cord to my water fountain, but gave up (I hope) because it's so thick.
I have the wires lifted off the ground (wound through stakes that are intended for growing tomatos,) but there has to be something better. I prefer a homemade grannual to keep them away. My sprinkler system would wash off a liquid everytime it waters.
Pearl Fournier says
Lynne, Sorry to say that human hair doesn’t work on rabbits here on Cape Cod.
I used hair in little pouches made from knee-highs to keep away the deer. That works beautifully especially around all my Hosta which is a “treat” for the deer”.
It seems the only thing that works on rabbits is a garlic tonic similar the the one posted.
Good Luck
Good luck
Cheryl Jackson says
Can I put the rabbit repellent on elephant ears and begonias. It’s raining here in Kansas City Missouri so bad vbutvthe rabbits still come out. Also what about my rose bushes?
Alea Milham says
yes, you can put the rabbit repellent on elephant ears, begonias, and rose bushes.
Jess says
I have a house bunny could i use this on my carpets where he likes to chew or would it make the floor sticky/smell??
Alea Milham says
I don’t recommend using this in the house. Can you make a spray with essential oils that may achieve the same effect?
kacy says
Human hair works pretty good for deer though. My grandma used to give us all hair cuts in her yard whenever the deer would start coming into the yard and tearing it up. But I don’t remember it keeping rabbits away.
Lisa Bracken says
I have had bunnies chew through the wire to my solar lights. They also chewed through my solar rope lights. I had people tell me ” no way rabbits would do that”! Glad I’m not the only one. Crushed red pepper sprinkled around the area seems to be working.
Chad says
Hello. I have a comment on your sprinkler issue. I learned this trick from a friend who gardens every year and it’s awesome. First, you want to pick a container that fits the thirst needs of your plant. One that requires more water will need a larger container, like tomatoes. Before you put your plant in the ground, take your container (a one-liter or two-liter for your more thirsty plants, a twenty ounce bottle for less thirsty; always rinsed well) and poke holes between the middle and the bottom of the bottle, but only on the side facing your plant. Then bury it up to the lower part of its neck. After this, put your plant or seed into the ground six inches to a foot away from the bottle, facing the holes. This will allow you to water your plant from under ground where the roots are, with minimal moisture being used by invasive weeds and such. It works great.
wendy says
My grandpa use to use human hair. I’ve started using it this past week. I planted amazing iris bulbs and the rabbits ate all the green shoots! I couldn’t figure out why the shasta daisies weren’t flowering….. They eat my hosta and every other annual I’ve planted. Hoping the hair works. I’ll try the garlic and dawn spray too!
louisa surges says
I used human and dog hair, not working.
Alea says
I also tried blood meal with some success, but it didn’t stick to the plants (that is what the dish soap is for) and it was quite expensive.
Melissa says
I will DEFINITELY be trying this! Thanks, Alea!
Lori byer says
This really works but it must be applied after every rain