Siwwy Wabbits! Stay out of my bean bed. The rabbits are eating all my beans and so in today’s episode we are showing you how to rabbit proof a raised bed to keep the rabbits out of your garden. Cheap, simple, and affective.
We had to go with wire that has smaller holes than chicken wire. Baby bunnies are boneless - they can get through the chicken wire. We had a real life Peter Rabbit last year - got in through the chicken wire, ate a whole bunch and then got too big to get back out. 😂
I feel your pain. They are under our shed too and we don't have the heart to relocate them. I got chicken wire everywhere. This year I'm trying an experiment. I have patches of garlic chives growing near the dahlias and Lily's and they haven't even bothered this year for the first time ever. So now when I prune chives or my oregano patches I chop the cuttings up fine and sprinkle around the garden. Acts as a mulch too! I'm also chopping up garlic scapes for this purpose. So far it's working!
I built raised bed fence frames which I let rest on the top of the beds and tied the corners with those release zip ties so I could remove a panel to access the beds to harvest. I discovered that squirrels could climb over so I attached about a foot of hard plastic so they were not able to climb. On the 4X8 beds I plan to make hinged panels to access my beds. Haven't done that yet. Unfortunately wood is so pricey and especially the treated wood that this could be a little pricey to do. These should last as long or longer than the beds and seem to be working well. I plan to use framed chicken wire to cover the tops of my beds so the birds can't eat my strawberries. One of the other benefits of fence frames is you can use them to support drip watering systems or spray water heads for your beds and with a timer you don't have to spend your time watering. Also if you have grass to mow you don't have to move your hoses to do it. I know this seems crazy, but it is what I came up with and I thought I should share in case other smart crazy people want to do it.
@@c.mcmahon494 Sadly I do not have the time or the energy to set up a blog or youtube channel. I did think it was a good idea a couple years ago, but never tried to do it. Now I spend most of my time working on the yard and garden which takes all my time and energy with no time to film things. Thanks for your reply.
I had rabbits in my back yard all winter. They kept setting off my cameras at all hours of the night. When it came time to plant my raised bed garden they ate 2 of my tomato plants to the ground. One is still alive but the other one died. They partially ate 3 others but they are doing great. To deter them I strung up aluminum pie plates until I could get some chicken wire. This worked for the short term. Since I have a small garden space, I put chicken wire around the whole garden. No more problems.
I just started my fencing last Sunday been lucky so far with the rabbits but yes shift they are delicious. Small game time and they get in they will end up in stew with carrots and potatoes from the garden haha
Chicken wire is such an effective product with so many uses (like building mountains in one’s living room as seen in Close Encounters of the Third Kind), but it can be very difficult to work with also because of its flexibility. Great video Luke!
The ivory/Irish spring soap/cheese grater trick works. Just grate yourself a line around where you don't want them to be and you can watch them walk up to and then walk away from your garden. I have 28 raised beds full of rabbit food and it's all good here.
@@kathycadile6421 no not around plants. You don't want to contaminate your soil. I have a raised bed area and I hate a line all around it. Like a big square.
@@Brick_Chick ok thank you so just spread it around the outside of the raised bed. I have several raised beds and we are already seeing rabbits in the yard. They are just waiting for me to start planting I'm sure
@@kathycadile6421 yes. I have 28 but they are bordered in an area with wood timbers so i walk around with a cheese greater outside of it until I've gone all the way around my area.
In southern Ontario, last year was our year of the rabbit. We already used chicken wire on our 18” raised beds. It worked great. We also made a few cloche from old lamp shades and chicken wire. Still fighting the squirrels.
Tomorrow in rabbit days of our lives... Jen is in awe of her newly constructed see thru wall paper surrounding her rabbit cage full of her fresh fabulous food her human worker grows for her and who also built her favorite pen... She can't wait to endulge and leave her little poopie pellets in appreciation, to fertilize her special home... Maintained by her yard boy. What a glorious life!!!🤔🧒😳 ROFL 🤣😂💙💜🌼🌿🌱🥕🐰🐇🌿🌱🥕🐰🐇🌿🌱🥕 SERIOUSLY I really hope your rabbits leave your garden alone!! Just having a little fun! God bless you and your family!
I built a tall raised bed years ago (24”). The rabbits never messed with anything in there and was my main place for lettuce and other greens. I was cleaning up and get ready for this year’s garden and found a rabbit nest with four babies. It seams hard to keep them out if they want to come in. Beds without height/protection have been good to go when I have onions or garlic all around the perimeter.
our beds are a foot high with another foot of chicken wire above that. We built the beds, stapled the chicken wire to the sides & the bottom. We have green garden stakes weaved into the chicken wire to hold the wire up. I've watched the rabbits come up the bed, stand on back legs & poke their nose on the wire a few times & give up. We have had very little problems with rabbits. Squirrels on the other hand......
You know you favorite book is Peter rabbit! Thanks for the sound advice. The bunnies love my yard too because all of the clover. They mowed down my bean as well. Got a 18” bed and am growing pole beans this year. But I have lower beds I can do this to.
This couldn't have come at a better time! This week we found our green beans mowed down! We were picking beans and they were beautiful! Now, they are 2 inch stubs! Our neighbor said they've seen a rabbit going under our fence, so off to get some chicken wire! They even ate all the leaves and blooms on the okra!
@@NatureScapesStudio It's not deer, the yard is inside a privacy fence. We've seen the rabbit occasionally and there's a hole under the fence, rabbit size!
@@caroleezekiel6000 I understand that. Just saying that deer will do it to and a privacy fence isn't really a deterrent. They can jump over it easily. Issue is IF they see something they want on the other side and are extremely hungry. we've had rabbits in our yard, but they DON'T jump. Food source hs to be pretty close to the ground for them. We have 2 ft high raised beds and I add 1 ft of fencing above that because squirrels will jump from anywhere and though they don't eat the plant leaves, they do dig holes and damage roots.
@@lindasmith9287 the garden is actually at my daughter's house, in a subdivision. They occasionally see deer, but they usually stay away. Our house has a bigger deer population, so I garden at her house!
I use #3 rebar for posts that I weave into the 2 foot chicken wire, so I don't need staples. And I lay wooden or metal stakes flat on the ground (inside and outside) that helps prevent them from tunneling under. But if they dig a tunnel, then I put my live trap right inside where the tunnel is, so they have to go into the trap once they're under the fence. Plus we have lots of coyotes that help keep the population in check. Although this year they're really thick.
LOL, looks like the picture I posted on your FB a couple months ago. I now have 7 of my 8 beds wrapped. 24" plus a few inches of the wood is plenty. They don't seem that motivated to try jumping it. Since I use 3' metal posts (some wood too) I just wrap some wire to hold the fence tight to the posts. For convenience I prefer just getting 24" chicken wire. We seem to have a regular breeding program in the backyard. I tried trapping one whole Summer, but they weren't interested. We've had them nesting in the tomato and garlic beds. They seem to think it's a great game to be chased by my 4yr old grand son.
I have a couple rabbits, but they don't bother my garden. I DO have problem with groundhogs. My raised beds are 2 feet tall and I put 2 feet of chicken wire on it, then PVC mesh over the top clipped to the chicken wire. The groundhogs climbed over the chicken wire and chewed through the PVC mesh. They ate 16 broccoli, 8 cabbage, 8 cauliflower, and 30 pea plants. They are EXTREMELY lucky I am an animal lover.
Another option is to fold 1/3 of the chicken wire up and reinforce the bottom if you don't have a raised bed. Easier and helps prevent the babies from getting through at the bottom.
A rabbit made its nest in my raised bed of strawberries. I was cleaning out the winter damaged leaves and grabbed a handful of fur which completely freaked me out. Thankfully it was from the mothers fur that she lined her nest with. The rabbits ate my squash seedlings in my in ground bed and when I grew beans in ground they always ate them as well. Obviously they can get in the raised beds and mine are taller than yours but they have not attacked crops in the raised beds.
lolol funny video! I had rabbits the last two years but my neighbors cat apparently took care of them last year and this. :) .... :( not sure whether to be happy or sad....I liked seeing the babies while they were here..
Question: I woke up this morning and I looked at my tomatoes and there is one that is drooping Bad they were fine yesterday and this morning it is drooping bad and wilting! I see that it may be starting in one of the other ones can you tell me what causes that and how do I fix it? Love your video's and I have learned a lot !! Thank you!
We have been over run with rabbits this year too! Almost all of my green beans, the tops of my cukes, and all of my sweetpotato slips have apparently been too tasty. They aren't the least bit afraid of me either.
I like this idea and put it around my outer property. Double layer of fence. Mint in between. There is a rabbit that climbed the chicken wire 4’ tall fence and jumped in. I’ve caught him/her in there and sprayed with a garden hose and spanked with a broom. Not easy to climb out the fence when being chased. I think he learned the lesson. Hasn’t been back in 3 weeks.
In central NH. No rabbits here. They would be at the bottom of the food chain. (coyotes, fox, fisher cats, bobcats) You made quick work of attaching the chicken wire fence to your raised bed. Siwwy Wabbit problem solved! Cheers!
I did something by similar but needed to use what I had at home so instead of chicken wire i used tulle fabric, it’s loosey goosey though LOL I had to go higher because although it stopped the rabbits the cats still jumped the height and used it as a litter box.
I feel your pain, we had a rabbit mow down our beans a few days ago. I will be fortifying our raised beds with chicken wire this weekend. I also have a lightweight insect barrier I plan to over the plants to make it harder for the rabbits to get to our beans.
Have not seen rabbits in my garden in days, while watching this I turn my head and had to go chase one out of the garden. Caution videos may attract rabbits lol
The rabbits are crazy this year. One tried to make a nest in my thyme bed. Covered it over before she could use it. Then this week-end we cleaned out an overgrown bed and guess what! Three little bunnies. Unfortunately, they were carted off by a neighbor and ?? They are not in the least intimidated by people. I can be sitting on a chair in the garden and they just come hopping by. Nature!!
Hey Luke. I’d love to see a video on how to keep moles out of the garden. We put chicken wire at the bottom of our raised beds, but after several years it is breaking down and the moles are invading. LOTS of moles on our property this year!
My problem is a few baby groundhogs. Would you still say 2 ft high is good to keep them out also. I have a 4ft rabbit fence around the garden now but have watched them squeeze thru the bigger section of that fence. They ate my peas, beans, cantaloupe and cucumbers. They are eating better than us!
I have 2 pens of rabbit hunting dogs… 3-4 house dogs running the yard I have no problems with ANYTHING getting in the yard lol I know most don’t have that “luxury” but man rabbit dogs are great to have, just know they are for HUNTING and don’t just chase the rabbit they want a snack. So they stay in the pen unless we are hunting, Josie dogs won’t let anything or anyone in the yard unless I’m beside them. Great dogs.
I raise meat rabbits, they can chew through chicken wire in under 2 minutes. I know this for a fact from putting them in my chicken tractor. I use hardware cloth around my greenhouse and raised beds. A total of 4' but it has a gate to access it from the inside. It also helps with being a trellis for beans and peas.
I just ordered rabbit proof fence from Critter Fence. It's coated and also stronger than chicken wire--I hope! But I think a big part of Luke's approach is based on discouragement.
@@robinrose9699 yeah I know, hardware cloth is rabbit proof. I've used for rabbit hutches in the past. My only issue with his installation is he is going to have to take it down and reapply seasonally. I know he likes getting in the beds and it could cause snow drifts in the winter. Not a concern here but I know Michigan winters all to well. I have a short video on the setup I am speaking of. Of course here we are amidst thousands of acres of woodlands and herds of 15 deer are not uncommon.
I actually went with the taller chicken wire, but agree this was a very effective method of keeping the rabbits out of my beds this year. In the bed I did not have chicken wire, the rabbits ate 100% of my snap peas. In the bed WITH the wire, they got none. Now all my beds lower to the ground have chicken wire. Unfortunately the rabbits have moved on to my flower beds, so I guess those are next.
Why are fencing was our route when I was a kid. Doesn't help that in the suburbs, the deck which is serving as the shield for their burrows tends to be a few paces away from the garden bed. We used chicken wire and the pest wire that's a slightly heavier gauge and bigger gaps.
I've had rat problems for the past three years. Neighbors on both sides do not pick up after their dogs and someone feeds the squirrels. I applied Pine Sol around the perimeter of my yard with a pump sprayer and so far so good! 🤞🏼🤞🏼
If you have a dog or a cat, have them patrol the garden. Small rodents have destroyed a lot of my seedlings this year, and I've been trying everything to get rid of them, short of using poison since I do not want that in my garden soil or around my pets. I had traps set up, but the rodents kept avoiding them. Once I get my cats trained, I'm hoping they can bring down a few of those pests.
Hi luke! I love your channel. Funny, just today I put chicken wire around my garden as the rabbits feasted on all of my lettuce and peppers...12 plants in all! Separate issue: I do have a question....one of my pepper plants is being covered by a tomato plant. I'd love to move it so it could receive enough sun. Can you do that to a vegetable? I don't want to hurt the roots of the tomato plant. This pepper plant was saved from the rabbits because it was so hidden by the tomato plant and I guess the rabbits are not partial to tomatoes. I've learned so much from watching you and gleaning so much of your knowledge. Plus you're fun to watch. Your positive attitude always lifts my spirit....Thank you and God Bless!
I think the pepper doesn't like transplanting more than the tomato plant, so maybe transplant the tomato, and shade it for a week so it doesn't struggle in the heat.
@@sn232 Thanks so much for your reply. My tomato plant is huge with tons of blossoms and green cherry tomatoes. The pepper plant had been attacked by the rabbit and I was waiting to see if it could recover so I decided to transplant it. I dug wide and deep and so far it seems to be doing well. Starting to blossom...Happy gardening!
@@bettywilmot7627 Yay! That's great news! Thanks for the update, makes me less nervous about transplanting them elsewhere if I need to :) Enjoy your Summer :)
We don't have rabbits (in our backyard where the garden is, anyway, 6' privacy fence seems to keep them out) but birds and squirrels destroy some things before they get a chance. I can't get beets or chard started because something comes in and picks them clean when they're only an inch tall.
after they wiped out my beans, I started chasing them with a fork with murderous intent....they just ran faster and learned fear.....then I set up a 110 conibear trap at their main entrance....blocking all avenues except thru the trap, and somehow they got the hint and stopped hanging around......I had planned on composting them like I did with a groundhog earlier this year....
I too have a rabbit living under my shed/detached studio. He's practically a pet at this point as he's afraid of neither myself or my dog. As soon as I put my chicken wire up to keep him out of the garden, the squirrels found it!
I have rabbits around here, but they tend to avoid my garden due to all the scent deterrents I use. The same can't be said for the rodent pests though. Groundhogs, rats, and chipmunks have been a huge problem this year, with the rats proving the hardest to eliminate. They avoided the traps I had set out, and I'm not willing to use poison, since that poses a risk to my soil and my pets. I'm currently training my cats to be working cats, and hoping they can at least scare off the smaller rodents.
Dogs might also be surprisingly effective deterrents. Any breed with a prey drive will go after them, and small dogs especially like miniature pinschers and terriers are bred for rat catching.
I've got this same problem only with Racoons...I've eliminated 14 already and there's still tons roaming around damaging and eating things at night....
I use chicken wire in al my raised bed, however on my no dig beds I use plastic snakes and they work really good with the rabbits, now the squirrels, well that is another story
You're lucky you're only dealing with rabbits. I have raccoons and possums/rats trying to destroy everything. My gardens are ALL covered top to bottom so I know rats are still involved because they're still getting in, they've eaten all my leaves off my peanuts but haven't touched my tomatoes YET. 😭😭😭 I even had them sprayed with my deterrent. Lots of rabbits so I was prepared for them.
Best to work with nature than against it. We live in the country and have plenty of rabbits around here. Raised beds help & so does chicken wire. =) Wanna see how you do it =)
Our problem isn't rabbits but the neighbour's 8 + cats who use our newly planted beds for a litter box. We built chickenwire frames to place over our newly planted beds to deter and protect until the beds fill in.
We ate inundated with chipmunks, squirrels and rabbits. Ugh. So far my little garden is ok because of the cherry and mulberry trees being their targets. These are huge trees decades old and loaded with fruit.
I built taller raised beds to thwart the rabbit feasts but am now dealing with groundhogs!! They are able to climb and eat just about anything including cilantro!
Upstate NY so many rabbits and chipmunk this year eating everything, veggies and perennials. Row cover and repellent is deterring the rabbits but not the chipmunks. I've had to resort to using rat traps, not easy. Foxes seen in the neighborhood, maybe they will balance the population.
I'm using mouse traps, live traps, netting and Cayenne powder. Something is working on the deer and rabbits and chipmunks and found out about mice for the first time relocating chipmunks chewing on garage. Busted my foot good in a deep groundhog hole.
We thankfully don't deal with rabbits in town, but we do get absolutely slammed by cats, rats, mice, and our own dogs. For some reason nothing seems to bother the raised beds in the front of the house (although rats did eat a ton of the container tomatoes on my deck last year), but this spring I added a double layer of chicken wire under the semi-permanent row cover. We had a neighbour cat using the beds as a litter box, rats and mice chewing up seedlings, and MY DOG was climbing into the bed (she was caught in the act one morning) to go after the cat mess. Now we seem also to be overrun by cut worms back there and I can only conclude those beds are cursed. The chicken wire dealt with the bigger animals but I don't think it's keeping the rats or mice out at all, just maybe giving things a fighting chance.
Braised rabbit goes great with all that extra oregano, thyme and basil with a good red wine reduction. Add in a couple young carrots & onions and you are toeing at Michelin stardom.
Have been having trouble with rabbits in my parents yard for years now as our yard is to uneven to install a rabbit proof fence , my family will not allow me to trap the rabbits,and our neighbors will not allow me to destroy there burrows Any advice Note: have already tried all the usual natural control methods ( coyote urine, onions, dogs,etc.) and none of them have worked
I have a raccoon that is crawling over this wire into my raised strawberry bed. Any suggestions? My husband made a top for it and the raccoon ripped the corners of the wire off the top of frame to get in. 🤯
I plan on sealing all holes in my fence, but leave 1 for the purpose of putting a trap (relocation only). Then between the trap and my garden, I'll apply deterrents, though I'm not confident smell things will work. The advantage is 2 doors down, they feed the rabbits to save their own garden, so hopefully they go for the free rabbit food 2 doors down and not come my way (wishful thinking?). But if they do, I hope to trap them. I just think wire is ugly.
The people feeding them is not an advantage; rabbits when given a good consistent food supply will have larger & more frequent liters. I agree with you on wire being ugly so I have tryed to close off any areas around my backyard fence where when the gates are closed, rabbits cant get in... I thought. Yesterday I was mowing & I caught a young just weened rabbit so small it could have fit though a 1-inch gap/hole. I reread the above & I want to clarify: I caught the rabbit with my hands, I shut off the mower & chased the rabbit down (they are realy quick at that age) Then my son & I (him holding it) walked to a near fallow field & let it go.
Can't rabbits chew through chicken wire? I'd like to use it because it's way cheaper than hardware cloth. Just wondering if anyone has had them get through it. I tried heavy plastic mesh and they got through that in no time.
