How to Stop Rabbits Eating Vegetables.
Trish from BirdTableNews has asked how she can stop rabbits eating her vegetables.
We planted 30 veg plants this year - cabbage, cauliflower etc. We put mesh over the plants. The rabbits stood on top of the mesh and ate the plants through the wire mesh!! We did not find out until it was too late. Someone saw them early one morning. Have you any advice for next year because although it’s a bit funny it’s also a bit disheartening to have 30 small plants eaten by rabbits. They could not get under the garden mesh so they ate from above!!
This is a terrible situation. One of TopVeg’s objectives is return on effort. To have all your veg eaten off after the effort of preparing the soil and planting, is too much.
- The only way to beat the rabbits is to dig some rabbit netting in around the entire plot. This is expensive - but will last a few years.
- Container gardening is another solution - if the containers are lifted high enough that the rabbits can’t get in. This also solves the slug problem - if the containers are on slippery poles that the slugs cannot climb.
- Scarecrows really work - according to soilman!
How about installing scarecrow on your plot? They’ll scare off the bunnies. They really work.
Comment by Soilman - August 29, 2008 9:11 am
Thanks Soilman - Mr Magregor’s jacket would do - unless you have a spare one! Will add scarecrow to the list.
Comment by TopVeg - August 29, 2008 9:42 am
I have a strange feeling the rabbits wouldn’t be bothered about a scarecrow. I think the rabbit netting is maybe the best idea. I think we have too big an area to grow things in containers. I did grow some radish in a container near my front door though. I’ll see what we can get organised for next year. I do like fresh veg. Thinking back I find it amazing that my parents grew all our veg when we were children (In the 1950’s). I think everyone grew their own. There were no supermarkets then! I remember podding peas for dinner. We rolled the peas down our hand to make sure there weren’t any peas with little slugs in!, the taste of the fresh peas, first sprouts eaten after a frost and fresh cabbage had a taste it’s hard to recreate. Thanks for your help. Trisha
Comment by Trisha - August 29, 2008 10:22 pm