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Expert Advice Plant Lore Rabbit Resistant Plants
Rabbit Resistant Plants Print
bunnyeatingpepperOur Northern New Mexico bionic bunnies will pretty much eat anything that doesn’t eat them first. This is mostly because they’re usually starving for water or food or both — the life expectancy of a wild rabbit or hare is about 1 year. But it's also because they’re, well, Hoovers with ears. So no plant any nursery around here sells can be said to be 100% bunny proof, including cacti.

Nonetheless, the list below spotlights some shrubs, perennials, and annuals that a majority of our customers have reported their bunnies passing up. This list should not be considered either exhaustive nor guaranteed, and Payne’s Nursery can’t be held responsible legally or morally if you buy some of the plants below and your rabbits develop a yen for them.

Other Ploys To Try

Other customer suggestions for diverting rabbit attention from your plants (again, no guarantees):

  • Build a rabbit-proof fence around your garden. (Bury the bottom portion 2 feet deep for maximum protection: remember, bunnies burrow.)
  • Put out some baited HavaHart™ traps (just don’t be surprised if all you catch is the neighbors’ cats).
  • Deliberately set up a rabbit feeding station, with water and vegetable scraps, near the bird feeders or at one end of the garden where you’ve seen rabbit droppings.(A surprising number of our customers have reported success with this approach.)
  • Sprinkle predator urine or Ropel™ (both available at Payne's!) around the garden.
  • Grow everything in hanging baskets or containers. Just make sure you place the baskets and containers way, way, way out of reach (bunnies have been kn0wn to climb onto porches to nibble geranium flowers from window boxes).
  • Try one of those solar-powered sonic repeller thingies (also available from Payne's) or endless loop Bon Jovi records.
  • Go into trance and make a deal with the Rabbit Deva.

Some Plants That Some Rabbits Avoid Eating Sometimes

ANNUALS
Marigolds (the stinkier the better)
Nightshades

PERENNIALS
Artemisias
Chocolate Flower (Berlandiera)
Daylilies (Hemerocallis)
Desert Marigolds (Baileya)
Desert Zinnias (Zinnia acetosa)
Feverfew
Gayfeather (Liatris)
Irises
Lavender
Mexican Hat (Ratibida)
Mints
Paperflower
Penstemons
Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia)
Rosemary
Sages
Salvias
Sunflower, Perennial Maximilian
Thymes
Veronicas

SHRUBS
Apache Plume (Fallugia)
Barberries (Berberis)
Chamisa (Chrysothamnus nauseosus)
Fernbush (Chamaebatiaria)
Junipers
Lilacs (Syringa)
Mahonias
Sage, Russian (Perovskia)
Sages, Western (Artemisia)
Spiraea, Blue Mist (Caryopteris)
Sumacs (Rhus)
Yuccas

VEGETABLES
Tomato Plants