One day your greens are thriving, and the next you wake up to see them nibbled down to a nub. Rabbits are persistent, and once they’ve marked your garden as a safe snack zone, they’ll keep coming back for more.

Well, before you rage-quit your garden, let me tell you it's possible to keep rabbits out of your garden. You just have to understand how they think, what they're looking for, and how to make your garden way less appealing.

Don't worry, we're not talking about harming bunnies in any way here. We're just going to outsmart them.

Why Do Rabbits Come into Your Garden?

As development takes over more and more wild places, rabbits and other wildlife are rapidly losing their habitats. That means fewer places to seek shelter, raise their young, and find food.

It's only natural that they would come to your garden, where they can find food and even raise their young without worrying about predators. (Many gardens are, after all, inside fenced yards that keep out most larger animals.) Mama bunnies look for nice, soft soil they can dig into and make a shallow nest for their young. I've had mama bunnies nest in the relative safety of my raised beds on numerous occasions.

Rabbits also may be drawn by certain things you're growing. They are, of course, herbivores, so they're looking for fresh, tender greens to munch on every single day.

Their favorite foods include:

• LEAFY GREENS like lettuce, cabbage, spinach, arugula, and young kale
• CARROTS, of course, though they prefer the leafy green tops over the orange root, despite what you’ve seen on TV
• PEAS & BEANS
• BROCCOLI
• BEETS (again, they love the green tops)
• BERRIES like blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries
• TURNIPS

So basically, if your garden is full of plants growing in loose soil and looks like a good place to hide some baby bunnies, these animal pests are definitely moving in. You've created a bunny safe haven.

Fun Fact

Rabbits reproduce super fast. One mama bunny can have up to six litters a year, and each litter might have four to six bunnies in it. We're talking 24 new baby bunnies per mama bunny every single season!

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Ways to Keep Rabbits out of Your Garden

When most people notice signs that rabbits are eating from their garden, their instinct is to put up a physical barrier—a fence, a row cover, something to go between the rabbit and the garden. While physical barriers can be great solutions, they are, by no means, the only one.

Many of the best solutions take into consideration the fact that rabbits are prey animals. Their survival depends on staying far away from anything that might see them as their next meal—foxes, coyotes, cats, dogs, snakes, owls. If you keep this in mind, you can often outsmart the bunnies that want to eat from your garden.

Here are different ways you can protect your garden from these persistent pests:

Use Smell to Suggest That Predators Are Nearby

I first learned this trick when I had a major raccoon issue in my garden and turned to a local garden center for help. The lady at the counter told me all I needed was some coyote urine.

My first question was, "How does one obtain coyote urine?" My second question was, "Why would I put coyote urine in my garden?"

She quickly explained to me that coyotes preyed on raccoons, and so if raccoons smelled the urine around my garden, they would think twice before snacking on my tomatoes. Maybe a couple juicy little fruits aren't worth becoming dinner yourself. (She never did tell me how they get urine from the coyote, but that's a question for another day.)

You can actually buy predator urine online or from a garden center, but you can also just let your dog walk around your garden and lift his leg. The scent, sound, or sudden movement of a dog (or cat) in the yard can be enough to send rabbits running. Even if your pet isn’t actively patrolling the garden, their presence alone can create an invisible “danger zone” that rabbits prefer to avoid.

If you don’t want your pets to roam freely through your garden, you can still take advantage of their deterrent power by brushing them and scattering the fur around your garden's perimeter.

→ If you're interested, there's coyote urine in spray form and granules made from predator urine available on Amazon.

Give Rabbits Something Better to Eat

Rabbits didn't evolve eating cultivated carrot tops and broccoli. Some of their favorite foods include joe-pye weed, clover, dandelions, coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, and willow bark.

If you surround the entire perimeter of your vegetable garden with these plants, the rabbits can fill up on their preferred foods and your lettuce may not look so appetizing. This is the concept of a living fence made of native plants and pollinator-friendly plants.

In addition to giving the rabbits another food source outside of your vegetable patch, a living fence has an added benefit. It makes your space look like somewhere a predator could be hanging out. Rabbits might take shelter underneath some thick shrubs, but they'll be worried that something larger is also hiding in the brush.

Living fences do become habitats for all kinds of critters. Your yard won't necessarily host coyotes, foxes, and owls just because you set up a native plant space, but the rabbits won't know that. They'll just know that maybe your vegetable garden isn't the safest place to have their babies and linger out in the open to nibble on beet greens.

It may sound weird that inviting in more wildlife could take care of your rabbit problem for you, but it's been very successful in my own garden. This is, after all, how nature balances out ecosystems.

→ Explore my list of the top native plants to grow around your kitchen garden, or read our article on how to start a native plant garden. For way more details and support, check out our Native Plant Garden Course.

Plant Rabbit-Repelling Plants Around Your Veggies

Strategic borders made up of strong-scented herbs and tough-textured plants create a garden perimeter that says, “This is not your salad bar.”

Rabbits rely heavily on their powerful sense of smell to detect danger and stay safe from predators. Use this to your advantage. Strong aromas can overwhelm or confuse their delicate noses, making your garden feel less safe and far less appetizing. Think of it as a bunny buffer zone: a perimeter of plants that rabbits find either unappetizing, confusing, or mildly offensive to their sensitive noses and nibbling habits.

Strong-Scented Herbs

Herbs can be powerful deterrents when planted densely around the edge of raised garden beds, in the ground nearby your veggies, or along key access points. The best herbs to repel rabbits include:

• Lavender
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Sage
• Basil

Alliums

Onions, garlic, and other alliums will stop a rabbit in its tracks, especially when planted in clusters along row edges or between more vulnerable crops like lettuce and peas.

• Onions
• Garlic
• Chives

Plants with Rough Textures

Another way to say “keep out” to rabbits is through texture. Plants with fuzzy, prickly, coarse, or spiny leaves create a physical and sensory barrier that rabbits tend to avoid. Some of these can be interspersed among your ornamentals, while others can be tucked into the borders of your kitchen garden beds for double duty: beauty and bunny control.

• Lamb’s ear
• Globe thistle
• Squash
• Yarrow
• Catmint
• Asparagus

Plants with Bitter Taste

Rabbits are quick to turn up their cute little noses at anything with a bitter taste. They can be surprisingly picky, which helps them avoid plants that could be harmful or unpleasant. This natural aversion to bitterness can be a great tool for gardeners.

• Snapdragons
• Rhubarb
• Marigolds

Set up Predator Decoys

Beyond smells, you can add sights by placing decoys like a plastic owl or snake around your garden. The trick is to regularly move them around your garden space so the rabbits don't get used to them or realize they're fake. There's also the classic scarecrow with loose clothing that moves in the wind.

Use Lights & Sounds

There are many different products you can buy that light up or make sounds both above and below ground. These startle the rabbits and encourage them to be on their way... quick. Your options include:

• Solar-powered garden alarm
• Motion sensor outdoor lights
• Motion sensor alarm with strobe lights
• Wind chimes
• Ultrasonic ground stakes

Build a Fence

These little grazers may not be high-jumpers like deer or acrobatic like squirrels, but they’re surprisingly adept at squeezing through gaps and digging under obstacles, so you’ll have to be strategic if you want to build a fence.

The most effective fencing starts with 1/2-inch hardware cloth or welded wire mesh. This material is tough enough to resist chewing and tight enough to prevent even baby bunnies from slipping through. Aim for a fence that stands 24 to 30 inches (61 to 76.2 cm) tall.

Rabbits are notorious for slipping in from below, so bury the bottom 6 to 10 inches (15.2 to 25.4 cm) underground or bend it outward like an apron to discourage digging. This simple tweak makes all the difference.

Use Protective Covers

If you're working with raised beds, containers, or smaller spaces, individual covers can offer a manageable approach to rabbit protection. Covering your crops with row covers or mini garden tunnels can make a big difference. Use lightweight hoops and fine mesh netting, and be sure to secure the edges with landscaping pins, garden clips, bricks, or soil. Rabbits are sneaky and can nudge their way in if there are gaps at ground level.

For even more targeted protection, try using wire cloches or mesh cages over specific plants. These are ideal for new transplants, favorite veggies, or garden areas where a full fence just isn’t practical. They’re easy to place, remove, and reuse, and they let in all the good stuff like sunlight, rain, and airflow.

Here are some protective cover options:

• Agfabric garden netting
• Micromesh 8' x 8' plant blanket
• Floating row cover
• Seedlings tunnel
• Garden cloche tunnel
• Chickenwire cloches

These small-scale barriers create a smart, chemical-free defense.

Apply Rabbit Repellents

There are several store-bought rabbit repellents made with natural ingredients. These ready-to-use formulas are designed to deter rabbits through strong scents and tastes, while remaining safe for your plants, family, and the environment.

Look for options labeled OMRI-listed or essential oil-based to ensure they align with organic gardening principles. Apply early in the season, before rabbits form a habit, and rotate products every few weeks to prevent habituation, when an animal stops responding over time.

Here are a few options:

• Liquid Fence Deer and Rabbit Repellent
• Plantskydd Animal Repellent
• I Must Garden Rabbit Repellent

Tip: Always apply according to label instructions and avoid spraying on edible plant parts.

→ See our full list of recommended products for organic pest control on Amazon HERE.

Now, if you want to supercharge your rabbit-proof garden, do a combination of several of these options. Mix up sights, smells, and sounds. Do whatever you can to suggest that predators are lurking just around the corners.

You'll notice that none of these suggestions involve harming rabbits in any way. If you like the idea of minimizing harm to wildlife, then I want to teach you my organic pest control system. Taking a more holistic approach to pest control changes the game for the better—for you and the environment.

In the meantime, I assure you that you can have rabbits living around your house and still have a thriving garden.

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