The Easter Bunny is no myth. Every year, just as carefully nurtured seedlings are beginning to flourish, the Easter bunny appears. Sponsored by Cadbury’s he is duty-bound to hide chocolate eggs in your garden. However, he and his accomplices seem to think that in return for this uninvited favour it is perfectly acceptable. Yes, absolutely fine to help themselves to whatever delicacies lie in their path! So, be ready this Easter and protect your emerging crops against these greedy nibblers!
Growing in Planters
Growing your veg in pots and planters means that juicy crops may be harder to reach for the rabbits, but those of you with a ground level vegetable patch have a harder task. Rabbit-proof fencing needs to be at least 120cm high with 30cm dug below the ground and a 15cm 'skirt' bent outwards to stop them digging their way in. When you factor in the fence posts this all adds up to beyond the annual defence budget of most gardeners.
So, instead of protecting the entire garden you could just protect the most vulnerable plants. A Micromesh Pest and Wind Barrier is a cheap and easy way to surround a raised bed and due to the tiny gauge mesh will also give protection against insect invasion such as carrot fly.
A crop cover such as a net or poly tunnel can quickly be rolled out over a row to deter the rabbits. Just remember to pull the drawstring tight at the ends!
For smaller, individual plants Bell Cloche will, amongst many other things, help to keep the bunnies at bay. Finally, if all else fails you could take a Mr McGregor style approach and chase the bob-tailed bandits with a rake. However, this may involve endless night-shifts as rabbits normally emerge to feed between dusk and dawn. No wonder Mr McGregor was so grumpy!