How to Prevent Rabbits From Digging Under a Garden Fence
There are many problems that you can encounter when growing your own backyard garden. Lack of rainfall, unfavorable temperatures and plant diseases can all play a part in a garden's demise. Rabbits can destroy a garden overnight by eating all your tender vegetables. Fences are a good deterrent to keeping them out, but you must install them properly to prevent rabbits from digging under them.
Dig a trench around your existing garden fence about 6 inches deep. Set the dirt aside to fill back in later.
Measure the perimeter of the fence (all four sides) and cut a piece of 1-inch mesh galvanized fencing the length of the perimeter. Use tin snips to cut the fencing.
- There are many problems that you can encounter when growing your own backyard garden.
- Fences are a good deterrent to keeping them out, but you must install them properly to prevent rabbits from digging under them.
Cut the piece of fencing so that it is 2 feet tall. If your perimeter is 16 feet, you will now have a piece of fencing that is 16 feet by 2 feet.
Wrap the galvanized fencing around the outside of the other fence so that it's all the way to the bottom of the fence. Tie it to the other fence with 14 gauge galvanized wire.
Fill the trench back in with dirt. You should now have a rabbit proof garden because rabbits will run into the mesh fence if they try to dig under the above-ground fence.
Rabbits Out Of The Garden & Yard
Enclose your garden with a fence. Rabbits cannot jump high, but they can dig. It is imperative that you bury at least 8 inches of your fence in the ground to keep them out. Pieces of black garden hose can do the trick. Onion, shallots, and leeks are all rabbit deterrents and can send rabbits away without lunch. Plant a variety of clovers, grasses and other favorite plants of rabbits away from your garden to give rabbits something to eat other than your plants. This keeps rabbits from munching on bark. Plant rabbit-resistant plants. Rabbit-resistant trees include redbud, cedar and maple.
- Cut the piece of fencing so that it is 2 feet tall.
- You should now have a rabbit proof garden because rabbits will run into the mesh fence if they try to dig under the above-ground fence.
Tip
If the rabbit problem is severe, you can also use live traps around your garden to bait and trap the rabbits. You can then release them at a remote location.
Try sprinkling coyote, fox, or wolf urine around your yard. This is also successful in deterring rabbits.
Related Articles
References
- Gardening Know How: How to Keep Rabbits Out of Gardens
- Rutgers: Keeping Rabbits Away from Desirable Plants in Your Garden and Landscape
- Oregon State University: How to keep rabbits from dining on trees and shrubs
- The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control; Barbara W. Ellis et. al
- Gardening with Ed Hume: Northwest Gardening Made Easy; Ed Hume
Tips
- If the rabbit problem is severe, you can also use live traps around your garden to bait and trap the rabbits. You can then release them at a remote location.
- Try sprinkling coyote, fox, or wolf urine around your yard. This is also successful in deterring rabbits.
