[Retired and happy]

We are desperate for solutions. There is an infestation of rabbits and they are eating our flowers and holly bushes. We want to plant new flowering bushes and shrubs but don’t want to invest in them and turn them into RABBIT FOOD😭. Have already researched on the web and used a highly rated repellent and the rabbits just sit on top of it and continue to dine.

Please share ANY solutions you have (unfortunately, we don’t have a dog)

[leftyf]

In Michigan, to protect my Hostas from the rabbits and deer I used

1 cup of dish soap
1/2 cut of cayenne pepper
Put this into a one gallon garden sprayer and fill with water and shake well

Spray all plants well and keep the tank handy and spray again after every rain

The soap holds the pepper onto the leaves and nothing eats them

[BoatRatKat]

I sprinkle cinnamon around the bushes and give a very light dusting to the leaves...this works well for me and smells better than putting down garlic powder (which also works well). The downside is that after a heavy rain you'll need to do it again but the rabbits usually move on after a week or so of the cinnamon.

[champion6]

I and my neighbors have the same rabbit problem. Many of us have tried all the chemicals, repellents, etc. We are now using poultry netting, aka chicken wire.

Of course we don't like the appearance, but it's the only thing that works. Otherwise we are providing the varmints with expensive rabbit food.

I want to try a .22 caliber solution -- kidding, sort of.

[My Post]

They are wascally down here.

[Greenbaygirl]

I buy the big bottle of red pepper flakes and sprinkle that around my plants. It seems to work for me and it's a lot cheaper than the sprays they sell.

[birdiebill]

When we lived up north, we kept the rabbits and the deer from eating our flowers and other plants by spraying them with a product called "Liquid Fence". I don't know if that is available down here or not. The spray really smells bad when sprayed, but once it dries on the plants, the odor is gone. We usually had to spray it for the first six weeks or so in the spring and the critters stopped coming by to feast on our plants. It needed to be resprayed occasionally after a heavy rain. It worked for us up there. Check with Lowe's, Home Depot, KB landscaping and nursery, or any other plant nursery in the area to see what they carry.

[Ecuadog]

Am I being naive if I ask why you don't plant stuff that rabbits don't like?

[perrjojo]

Originally Posted by Ecuadog

Am I being naive if I ask why you don't plant stuff that rabbits don't like?

The rabbits see something green and they like it.

[Daddymac]

Rabbit is Good with potato and gravy!!!
Don’t forget your vegetables!

[Henryk]

Originally Posted by Daddymac

Rabbit is Good with potato and gravy!!!
Don’t forget your vegetables!

When I was young (!) we had a house rabbit that roamed the house freely. He was box trained. One day he got into the pantry and ate a large amount of potatoes. When I came home from school my mother told me something was wrong with the rabbit... It wouldn’t hop when prodded. My mom deduced the potato had turned to alcohol andthe rabbit was drunk. He was fine the next day after sleeping it off.

[big guy]

We too had multiple critters eating things in our yard in Ohio. The main problem was Canada Geese. I just wanted to keep them out of our yard. because they poop so much. We tried fireworks, laser light at night, spraying the eggs with Pam, chasing them, many other exhausting things. So we move to The Villages and I carry my motion detector sprinkler with me. I had to use it the first summer to scare the rabbits. And scare it did. It is a sprinkler that can be set to set off a 3 second burst of water when anything crosses the path of the beam of the motion detector. It got the rabbits, the yard man, the neighbor, me, the meter reader, everything that moved through the beam. There is a video on youtube: Contech Scarecrow Sprinkler - A Demonstration Review - YouTube

They are much cheaper than they were when I bought mine in about 2004. I paid $79.99. I think they run between $39.95 to $59.95 now. Walmart has them that can be ordered.

[Two Bills]

Encourage some feral cats into the area.

[Topspinmo]

Why not just buys cheap trap door trap. Trap them and haul them off to area where houses aren't near? I've trapped squirrels out that was wanting to chew on my house

[Jima64]

Originally Posted by birdiebill

When we lived up north, we kept the rabbits and the deer from eating our flowers and other plants by spraying them with a product called "Liquid Fence". I don't know if that is available down here or not. The spray really smells bad when sprayed, but once it dries on the plants, the odor is gone. We usually had to spray it for the first six weeks or so in the spring and the critters stopped coming by to feast on our plants. It needed to be resprayed occasionally after a heavy rain. It worked for us up there. Check with Lowe's, Home Depot, KB landscaping and nursery, or any other plant nursery in the area to see what they carry.

Guess you wokuld be respraying it almost every day which could get expensive.