How to Keep Rabbits Out of the Garden: Effective Tricks

As a gardener, I've felt the frustration of seeing wild rabbits ruin my garden. These cute but pesky creatures can damage vegetable and flower gardens alike.

Many gardeners face this problem and want a cheap, simple, and effective way to keep rabbits out. In this post, you’ll learn how to identify rabbit activity, natural methods for how to keep rabbits out of the garden, and step-by-step instructions for rabbit-proofing a raised bed.

A Gardener’s Cutest Nemesis

Pest animals in the garden can cause a lot of destruction and crop loss in a surprisingly short time. You know the struggle if you’ve had deer in the garden, squirrels damaging crops, birds eating garden produce, or other pests.

One year, so many rabbits were getting into my garden that I started to feel like Elmer Fudd saying, “Siwwy wabbits! Stay out of my bean bed!”

I’ll admit rabbits are cute, but those “wascally wabbits” were wreaking havoc on my garden. An entire raised garden bed of green beans (which looked beautiful) was completely mowed down to the ground by rabbits!

Why You Should Keep Rabbits Out of the Garden

It might not seem like a big deal if you only see one or two rabbits in your garden. But if you don't find a way to act fast, a few cute rabbits can result in heaps of food and plant loss in just one season!

The biggest challenge with rabbits is that they are not migratory animals. If they find a reliable food source (like my garden), they will stay there and eat… and reproduce.

Rabbits are voracious eaters. One wild adult rabbit will eat around a pound of food every day. And, in ideal conditions, a pair of rabbits can become 20 rabbits within a year.

Telltale Signs of Rabbit Activity in Your Garden

Rabbits are most active at dusk, through the night, and at dawn, so you may not always see one in your garden. You can look for signs to identify whether rabbits or another pest are causing the damage.

Some common signs of rabbit activity include:

• Holes - Look for small holes in the ground, often with piles of dirt nearby.

• Plants Eaten - Rabbits love to eat green plants, flowers, and young vegetables. They especially like the tender shoots and leaves. When you notice nibbled plants, the damaged edge of the plant will look neatly cut, not ragged, if a rabbit ate it.

• Droppings - Rabbit droppings are small, round, and pellet-like. You will start noticing small pea-sized droppings all around your garden.

Methods For Keeping Rabbits Out of the Garden

The best way to save your garden from rabbits is to prevent them from getting in to start with. To avoid an invasion, take away rabbits' shelter. Because they are prey animals, rabbits don't like to stray too far from a safe shelter.

Don't leave debris near the garden where rabbits can hide. Block holes under nearby sheds and decks and let a dog roam freely around the garden if you have one.

Here are more common strategies for removing rabbits once they start feasting on your garden.

How to Keep Rabbits Out of the Garden

Your gardening style will dictate the level of security you need to protect your plants. For my garden, I found that building a chicken wire fence around each raised bed is the best way to keep rabbits out.

I cut the chicken wire down to about 2 ½ feet tall, making it much easier to manage my garden beds. Rabbits can jump higher than 2 ½ feet, but they usually avoid challenges and go to a more easily accessible food source.

I stapled the chicken wire directly to my wooden raised beds. Rabbits can dig underneath a fence but won't usually burrow under the wood on the raised beds.

Supplies Needed To Rabbit-Proof A Raised Bed

If you have a wooden raised bed, you will need the following supplies:

• Chicken Wire - Chicken wire is inexpensive, comes in nice long rolls, and is simple to put up. You will need enough fencing to surround the perimeter of the raised bed. (Welded wire fencing works great too as long as the holes are small enough.)

• Wire Cutting Tool - Choose a tool for cutting metal wire: tin snips, wire cutters, or fencing pliers will work, but a pair of regular scissors will not.

• Heavy-Duty Staple Gun & Staples - Staples are an easy way to secure the fencing to wooden raised beds.

• Six 1x1 Wooden Stakes - You can purchase 1-inch x 1-inch wooden stakes at your local hardware store. You will need six for every large raised bed you plan to fence in. If you are building a fence around an in-ground garden, plan for one stake in every corner plus one stake every 3 feet of length.

• Tape Measure - Grab a tape measure to measure the raised beds and the fencing before you cut. Remember the old adage, “measure twice to cut once”.

• Gloves - Wearing work gloves is highly recommended when working with cut metal.

If you are in-ground gardening, you will want to cut a taller section of chicken wire and either bury it in the ground or use hardware cloth stakes to secure the chicken wire to the ground. Make sure you gather the extra tools needed for that.

Step-By-Step Instructions

1. Measure the Length - Measure the perimeter of the bed you will be surrounding with chicken wire fencing. For example, if my raised bed is a 3-foot x 8-foot rectangle, the perimeter is 22 feet. Pro-Tip: Add some additional length to allow for overlapping the fencing to create a more secure fence. I added 6” to the length.

2. Unroll the Chicken Wire Fencing - Unroll the chicken wire fencing in an open space. I start with a nice long roll of chicken wire to have one continuous piece surrounding my raised bed. Pro-Tip: The more connections and gaps you have in your fencing, the more chances you have of allowing a rabbit in. Rabbits will take advantage of even a small 3” gap in your fence.

3. Measure & Cut the Length - Starting from the end of the chicken wire roll, measure the length of fencing you need (the perimeter of your bed plus 6”). Then, use a wire cutting tool to cut across the chicken wire from top to bottom, resulting in one long piece. For my 3’ x 8’ raised bed, I would measure 22’ 6” from the end of the roll and cut there.

4. Cut the Chicken Wire Fencing Down to Height - On the section of fencing you have cut to length, measure 2 ½ feet up from the bottom side of the roll and cut down the length of the roll using a wire cutting tool. Your finished product should be one long piece of chicken wire 2 ½ feet tall. (Remember, if you are burying the fencing for an in-ground garden, it will need to be taller. Make sure it is tall enough that at least 2 ½ feet of fencing remains above ground AFTER it is buried.)

5. Place the Wooden Stakes in the Raised Bed - Push a wooden stake into the soil at each corner of the raised bed and the halfway points of the long sides.

6. Place the Chicken Wire - Begin placing the prepared chicken wire fencing, cut side down, around the outside of the raised garden bed. I started near a corner.

7. Secure the Chicken Wire to the Raised Bed - Hold the fencing securely against the wooden raised bed and begin securing it with staples.

8. Continue Securing the Fencing - Continue placing the chicken wire around the raised bed and stapling it in place, keeping the fencing taut as you work.

9. Overlap & Secure the End - When you have completely encircled the raised bed with chicken wire, a small section should overlap where you started. You can bend the cut ends of the chicken wire around the other piece of fencing to close the gap. Wearing a pair of work gloves is a good idea for this.

10. Staple the Fencing to the Stakes - Secure the wire fencing to the wooden stakes with one staple near the top of each stake.

Maintaining Your Rabbit-Proof Garden

To keep rabbits out, regularly check your garden and your fence. Look for signs of damage or places where a rabbit may have pushed through or under. Fix any holes in the fence if you find them.

Using this rabbit-proofing method, I have successfully protected my garden from rabbits and enjoyed a full harvest. With a little work and creativity, you can have a garden full of healthy plants again.