Eight Methods To Stop Deer And Rabbits Eating Your Plants

A common problem gardeners face is how to stop deer and rabbits from eating their plants. In fact I would venture to say everyone has experienced this at some point! Whether it is deer eating tomato plants or rabbits mowing down your flowers, it all causes frustration! Replacing plants costs money, growing more flowers costs time and it all adds up. So, below I’m going to list out some strategies you can use to keep deer and rabbits away!

Use a barrier – cage or fence

The most robust solution of all is to make it physically impossible for them to get at your plants. And doing this with a cage or fence works best. Now, if you are talking about a vegetable garden, then I have had great success with a simple 4′ welded-wire fence. Others have found they need taller fences of 6-7′ high to keep deer our. So, this will depend on your area.

My vegetable garden is protected by 4′ green welded-wire fencing. It has kept all the deer out.

However, if you are just trying to protect a single tree, often deer or bird netting draped over the foliage can be enough. The deer don’t like eating around it, and will generally avoid browsing the foliage at all. This has been a great strategy my parents actually employed to keep their arborvitaes looking great. After years of deer eating holes in them, my Mom just decided to try draping the netting over the branches and it worked! No more damage.

If rabbits are your main issue, then a simple 2′ tall chicken wire fence can often be enough to protect most trees and shrubs. Although you will need to go taller to keep them out of a garden.

Use Deer/Rabbit repellent

A strategy I frequently use for my flowers is to apply Liquid Fence (link to rec. products). This is a deer and rabbit repellent that is made from concentrated rotten eggs, and generally needs to be applied weekly. It is a bit expensive, but does an awesome job keeping my plants free of damage,

What I do is buy the concentrate and mix it up 1/4 gallon at a time (3-4 fluid ounces per 4 cups of water). I spray a perimeter around the plants/beds, and spray directly on the plant itself. If possible, I try to spray on the under-side of the leaves, as that will protect it from washing away. Now, just know that you should reapply after rains regardless of the underside of the leaves.

Only grow deer and rabbit resistant plants

Some people who have particularly high deer or rabbit populations may opt to only grow plants that deer and rabbits won’t eat. There are some species that are just not palatable to them because of aroma, texture, or toxicity. Now, some of these, while deer/rabbit resistant may be extremely aggressive. So, in those cases make sure you either take steps to contain their rhizomes/runners, or place them where they can either run wild, or you can easily contain them each Spring. But below is a list of native plants that I’ve found to be very deer resistant.

Penstemon
Mountain Mint (spreads)
Bee Balm (spreads)
Wild Bergamot
Spotted Beebalm (pictured @ right)
Echinacea (when leaves mature)
Prairie Smoke
Blue Mistflower (highly aggressive)
Northern Blue Flag (iris versicolor)

Motion activated sprinklers

This next strategy isn’t free in that it will cost some money to purchase and possibly some extra hose. But a motion activated Sprinkler (link to rec. product) will absolutely work. Simply position it where the animals like to walk and then wait. In the middle of the night as they are coming for their ‘midnight snack’, bam! They get a surprise as a sprinkler kicks on. The noise and motion will scare them, and they may even get wet!

Decoys!

Believe it or not, sometimes decoys can scare away deer or rabbits. Like scarecrows, these can frighten them away. But unlike scarecrows, it isn’t by appearance, but by noise or motion. They generally need wind to actually work, but a simple aluminum baking sheet hanging off a stick by a string can blow in the breeze, and either create noise or have the motion startle deer and rabbits. This is not the most reliable of methods, but it will be somewhat effective depending on the wind. Also, it helps to move your decoys around so the animals don’t get used to them.

Let weeds grow in your lawn

This strategy might seem a bit strange or unorthodox, but I assure you it can help. The key is to use it in conjunction with at least one of the other strategies listed above. If you allow weeds to grow in your lawn, you will inevitably create a food source for the rabbits/deer as clover/dandelions will begin to grow. And rabbits/deer and even ground hogs love eating clover in particularly, but also other random weeds that will grow. Now, this may seem counterintuitive. Why would you want to grow food for the very animals that are decimating your plants?

Well, the reason this can be an effective strategy is that if you are employing one of the other aforementioned strategies, you will be making your plants harder to eat. If there is a barrier, the plant is harder to eat. If it is sprayed with repellent, it won’t taste good. If it is a deer/rabbit resistant plant, they will eat the weeds rather than it!

Traps! (rabbits only)

Yes, you can trap a rabbit. Simply place it in your garden, and bait the trap with something they like to eat. Fresh vegetables are generally effective at attracting rabbits, but fruit can work too. Some specific examples would be lettuces, carrots, or even clover picked from your lawn.

If you manage to trap the rabbit, walk up to the cage holding a blanket in front of you and drape it over the cage. Then, pick up cage with the rabbit inside. This will help keep the rabbit calm. You then simply drive the rabbit somewhere 5+ miles away (8 km), and release it.

There is one major risk with trapping rabbits that you should be made aware of – you might trap something other than a rabbit! Now, if you manage to catch a groundhog or squirrel, that isn’t a big deal. But if you get a raccoon it could be dangerous to release, as they have very sharp claws/teeth. However, there is a bigger risk (IMHO) that you catch a skunk! If you catch a skunk, it will be very difficult to get rid of it without getting sprayed. And I’m sorry, I have no strategies to offer you…..get creative!

Get a dog

Finally, a very robust method to keeping nearly all animals out of your yard is to get a dog. Yes, a dog that spends most of his time outside will be effective at keeping most animals. Dogs will simply chase away any rabbits that happen to venture into your garden. Sure, dogs can also cause other problems like digging holes or even ripping plants out of the ground (ask me how I know this). But, with proper training those issues can generally be corrected.

Conclusion

While it can be incredibly frustrating to have all of your flowers or vegetable plants eaten, it is good to know that there are strategies you can employ to stop the destruction. I have used each of these to various degrees over the years and have found them to be effective.