Will Animals such as Squirrels and Rabbits Eat My Garden?

by Melissa
(Council Bluffs, IA)

Hello, It's my first time planting a garden and I have a nice big back yard I intend to utilize with raised garden beds.

One of the best spots for sunshine is further out back along our fence; however there are squirrels and rabbits hopping around most of the day.

We live in a community but are surrounded by rural areas so we get a lot of those animals around.

Is this something I need to worry about and do you have any recommendations?

I am considering another location near the property, but I still need to check how many hours of direct sun it gets during the day.

Thanks. Your site is great!

-Melissa



ANSWER:



Hi Melissa,
I'm very glad that you like my site!

You will likely not have any problem with squirrels damaging your garden.

But...

Unfortunately, the story of Peter Rabbit and Mr. McGregor's garden is based on fact; rabbits simply love to eat tender growing garden vegetables even to the point of risking being made into a rabbit pie!

There are several ways to deal with the problem of keeping rabbits out of your garden.

You can use chicken wire to erect a fence around your entire raised bed garden, or you can make individual cages called "cloches" to cover smaller areas or protect individual plants.

However, rabbits will dig under a fence if it is not set deep enough in the ground--usually 6-8 inches underground is necessary.

Some gardeners use blood meal, chili powder, liquid fence, or other repellents to keep the rabbits away from their garden plants.

These will have to be applied more than once during the vegetable growing season.

You might want to check with your local garden center to see which rabbit repellents work best in your area.

You may end up using a combination of fencing materials, and repellents to keep your garden safe.

Best of luck!