Battling backyard bunnies
GARDENING
This year’s garden was going to be different — I had a plan.
Early in the season, I started a selection of gloriosa daisies, rudbeckia, three kinds of salvia, mesclun mix lettuce, calendula and butterfly weed in our little greenhouse.
Like a nursemaid, I babied the seedlings, starting them in tiny cells and then bumping them up to larger containers after they sprouted and began to show some strength. I bought a bottle of fish emulsion (liquid organic fertilizer) and fed my little charges on schedule and held them in the greenhouse well into June, until the weather was warm and dry enough to welcome the young plants.
My plant choices were guided by the fact that the local bunnies dislike salvias and will leave mature rudbeckia and gloriosa daisies alone; they love lettuce, but I’d grow the lettuce in a container, out of bunny reach.
In my mind, I envisioned trays of colourful plants to fill all of the gaps left behind when the tulip and daffodil bulbs had completed their growing cycle in the perennial borders.
With the garden walk just around the corner, I’ve been prepping the planting beds and setting out the young seedlings, culminating in a planting marathon last weekend. Enter mother rabbit and her clutch of adorable bunnies (in reality, insatiable plant eaters) and virtually overnight my seedlings were reduced to pencil-like stubs.
Bunnies have always been a challenge in our garden, but I thought I might have gained the upper hand this year. In the early spring, I discovered a neatly dug hollow lined with interwoven grass, among the tulips. I destroyed the future nest and packed the hollow with soil and covered it with a rock.
Success! In May, I tentatively underplanted the tulips in the circle garden with a tray of pansies, a.k.a. bunny candy. I figured if the bunny returned, I would only be out $12, if she stayed away, I would enjoy a beautiful spring display. Round 1, the gardener.
Bolstered by my success, I transplanted the mesclun lettuce to the garden when the tulips were finished — I should have known better than to tempt fate.
Tell-tale signs of a new bunny on the scene included pansies stripped of all flowers (just the pointy stems remained) and sheared lettuce plants. I quickly went into bunny defence mode, removing the remaining pansies and interplanting the lettuce with plants the bunnies avoid, salvia and basil. The mesclun mix includes arugula, another bunny safe plant. I let the arugula grow tall and flower, in the hopes it would protect the tender lettuce plants. Round 2, the bunny. Last weekend saw me scrounging the local nurseries for bunny-proof plants, to fill the gaps left by the insatiable bunny. When I explained my challenge to the staff, I was met with sympathy but very few answers. Bunnies (and deer) are a real challenge, they will eat almost anything green, but they do have their favourites.
In my garden, the local bunnies love beans, carrots, pansies, lettuce, rudbeckia hirta seedlings, butterfly weed, snapdragon, marigold, Shirley poppies, serviceberry (bark, leaves and young branches). They avoid, basil, onions, garlic, chives, arugula and any form of salvia. Miraculously, the calendula seedlings are thriving (touch-wood).
The eastern cottontail rabbit populates fencerows, field edges and landscaped back yards. Don’t be deceived by cute names, bunny and cottontail, weighing in at one to 1.5 kg, a mature bunny can reach 30 to 45 centimetres in length and usually lives 12 to 15 months.
The Farmer’s Almanac (www.almanac.com/pest/rabbits) provides a few suggestions on how to rid the garden of rabbits. Rabbits sniff a lot; scents they dislike will discourage them.
hair clippings (from a hair salon) or blood meal around plants they love to eat
of Lysol diluted in one gallon of water
in little mesh bags and hung around the garden
of their own reflection. An old-time remedy suggests placing clear jars of water near their favourite plants. Ready made reflectors or menacing garden statuary like owls, snakes and cats might work (my bunnies are way too street smart for this).
with their favourite foods can work. Place the trap where the bunnies like to feed, monitor the trap daily. If you catch a bunny, release it a few kilometres away in a rural area.
prevention is worth a pound of cure. Repellents may discourage rabbits, but it won’t eliminate the problem.
Surrounding your garden with chicken wire is the only solution. Install a fence that is 1.5 meters high and bury the wire 15 cm in the ground — drastic, but effective. For smaller plantings, a dome or cage of chicken wire is awkward, but effective. I pot up plants that I really want to protect, and grow them close to the house on the patio. This works for pansies, peas, beans and lettuce. In the garden, interplant fragrant basil and sage among your tasty plants, it’s not a cure, but it does discourage the bunnies.
Over the holiday weekend, I repotted the remains of my precious seedlings. Basically, un-planting all of the previous week’s work. I’ve settled trays of nibbled gloriosa daisies in the greenhouse and on the concrete bench (out of bunny reach), treated them to a long drink of fish emulsion. I’ll let them gather their strength before the next round, maybe in August when I get back from the cottage — gloriosa daisies are great for fall colour.
I do enjoy seeing the visiting wildlife in the garden, if only the bunnies would be more polite and helpful. Imagine a perfect garden, where bunnies admired the flowers and ate all of the weeds … — Theresa Forte is a local garden writer, photographer and speaker. You can reach her by calling 905-351-7540 or by email at theresa_forte@sympatico.ca.