Although rabbits are cute and similar to fluffy fur balls, they can wreak havoc in your garden. These animals love vegetable gardens and can chow down on a bed of bulbs quite easily. Rabbits are curious and opportunistic when they are hungry, so how can you protect your garden and choose the right plants to repel rabbits? The answer is choosing plants that have strong scents, spiky, prickly stems, velvety, leathery leaves, milky or sticky residue, and finally, toxic flowers.
Read further to find out which plants you should add to your garden to keep the Easter bunny away!
Lavender
Image credits: Hans via Pixabay
It all comes down to the potent scent of this plant that makes rabbits hop away. Lavender has a strong woodsy smell that can permeate the air if you plant enough stalks. The smell acts as a strong deterrent against rabbits, so they'll keep their distance from these purple beauties!
Lavender does well in poor soil, so it's a good reason to have this plant in your garden because if its low-maintenance. Space your lavender 2 to 3 feet apart from other blooms and give it plenty of sunshine -- 6 to 8 hours per day.
Marigold
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Marigold is an annual that comes in a variety of colors including orange, yellow, and red. The distinct odor not only keeps rabbits away but also deters pesky deer. This makes marigolds a great companion in the vegetable garden!
This radiant flower does well in flower beds or planted in containers with full sun conditions in well-draining soil.
Yarrow
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Yarrow flowers have a sweet, yet spicy aroma and a bitter taste if consumed by foraging rabbits. The smell and taste alone are enough for these animals to forego this white beauty.
The plant is an easy one to grow as it tolerates poor soil conditions, but prefers a loam or partial clay base. Yarrow thrives in full sun and blooms in spring and summer (June to September). Plant them as a flowery ground cover to attract pollinators.
Allium
Image credits: Jeffrey Eisen via Pexels
These brilliant flowers that look like purple lollypops are perfect plants to discourage roaming bunnies. The pungent onion odor emitted from the stems and leaves is too much for rabbits, so they will stay clear of this tall plant. Not to mention squirrels and chipmunks will also take cover from this plant.
Conversely, pollinators like honeybees thrive off the juicy nectar produced by the flowers that appear in April and May.
Plant these bulbs in the fall between September and November, and make sure your bulbs are 4 inches deep in the soil and exposed to full sun. These flowers are great foundation plants that add attractive foliage around your garden.
Butterfly Weed
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The fiery butterfly weed with its bright color is a great choice for pollinators like monarch butterflies, caterpillars, and hummingbirds, but rabbits will stay clear of this plant because of the texture of the milky sap and bitter-tasting flowers.
This is a simple plant to grow as it tolerates poor soil conditions including dry soil. Make sure you plant these firecrackers in full sun.
Mint
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Mint pairs well with lamb, cocktails, and dessert, but rabbits detest the strong aromatic menthol smell of this plant, so they won't touch it.
Although the perfect pest-repellent plant, be mindful that mint has a fast-growing root system with runners that can take over your garden as quickly as rabbits can take over a vegetable patch. To prevent this, try growing mint as a border plant, or in containers placed around your garden. Plant your mint in warm, moist soil in full or partial shade.
Sweet Coneflower
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Not to be mistaken for the common daisy, coneflowers have glorious yellow and dark brown hues, but the colors are not the reason why rabbits don't like these plants. It's because of their fragrant honey-like scent which is too sweet for their palate.
Plant them in your garden not only to repel rabbits but to encourage visits from pollinators such as butterflies and moths as they like the nectar from the flowers.
Coneflower is a hardy plant that grows well in moist as well as dry soil, but the flowers need full sun and space to thrive as they can reach heights of 4 to 6 feet with a spread of 2 to 3 feet.
Foxglove Beard Tongue
Image credits: Sonja-Kalee via Pixabay
This stalky milk-white and yellow plant has tubular-like flowers with sticky glandular hair on the stems. It's important to know all parts of the plant are toxic to rabbits, pets, and your children.
This foxglove does well in average to moist soil conditions with sun and partial sun. It does; however, have a short bloom period from mid-spring to early summer, so make sure this plant grows amongst longer-lasting blooms to keep the rabbits at bay.
Plants That Keep Pests Away
The above plants are recommended as deterrents for voracious rabbits. They work well in keeping these critters away because the plants have unpleasant scents, residue, toxins as well as unusual textures, and unpalatable tastes. But they work splendidly well in attracting good pollinators to your garden!
Will you try these plants in your garden to keep the bunnies and rabbits away?
If you have any tips or tricks, please leave them in the comment field below, or share your experiences with rabbits in your garden.