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.
Kathy Godsen says
I have moles digging holes under my pachysandras and can’t get rid of them. They have taken whole plants under ground! Any suggestions? Have put in SOS pads that I had in the house in their holes so they might get caught up in them! HELP
Kelly says
Take 5 peices of double bubble gum put it down each hole. The moles love it but can’t digest it and they die after eating it. Works like a charm. Sounds crazy but it kept moles out of my yard for 3 years they came back last year and I did the same thing and haven’t seen any since. I know it sounds weird but it works.
mary says
if used on veggies, is it safe to eat the veggies afterwards?
Alea Milham says
Yes, but be sure to wash your veggies well, to remove any residue.
Yessi says
Does this work on lawn!? A rabbit has been eating it
Alea Milham says
It should, but you have to reapply after every time you water or it rains. It works best on plants with a drip irrigation system, so you don’t have to reapply after watering.
Jeannette Solinsky says
Do you have any ideas on birds getting into our garden and drilling into the ground and eating the seeds?
Teresa.S says
Get you some rubber snakes in the toy section and or scarecrow
Anna says
lots of good ideas, Thank you guys. I will try that glass jars to see if it works. My problem is that our garden rabbits come early morning after rain and have their breakfast= my tulips 🙁 before I get out of bed!
Kim says
Can I use this on a vegetable garden?
Gary says
I bet by replacing the pepper type to a Super hot pepper may improve the results as far as after raining. When I get super Hot juices on my finger tips, I can wash my hands over and over with anything and it will still be there. You have to be careful. Wear thick gloves. It will go through the thin regular ones!
Donna Blume says
I need info on getting a Rabbit out of my yard. My dogs are being tormented as well as the family. Barking and chasing and digging is out of control. This is not scaring the rabbit away!
PLEASE HELP THE BLUME FAMILY
James Ford says
I’ve had problems with deer, squirrels and rabbits in my gardens, but this year the worst pest was the Japanese Beetles. In the past I’ve use a pesticide, which worked so-so. Now I’m trying to avoid the use of pesticides and herbicides so as to be pollinator friendly. Any ideas?
Woodlandone says
Japanese beetles come from grubs in the soil. Kill the nympth stages of grubs by sprinkling Milky Spore around. Takes a while for the disease to spread thru all the grubs but it is effective. Only works on either large properties or if several neighbors all use it. I rarely see Japanese beetles anymore.
Mick Bolton says
I added a tbsp of cayenne pepper to the recipe and ground Apache chilis. The rabbits completely lost interest in my plants and are probably running arounf frantically searching for a drink of water! 🙂
Alison says
I blend orange peels in water in a powerful blender and scatter this slurry around my tulips. Now we finally get tulips! Works like a charm! And oranges are in season when tulips start poking out of the ground.
Annette says
Do you have any ideas on ridding ones yard of ground hogs?
Arlie Klebe says
I soak rags in ammonia and moth balls overnight, and place them in the ground hog holes. It works.
Jo says
August 9, 2014: liquified some black pepper, paprika, and fresh garlic; simultaneously added a lot of gentle hand soap while putting water in a watering can (for a throng mix) and while adding in the spices. Have a ton of rabbits that like most plantings. Right now it’s the wildflowers they are getting into that we planted. Will let you know in a few days if successful. Note: Will reapply as often as needed the first 2 weeks.