6 Rabbit proof plants to thwart the Easter Bunny

Why 6 rabbit proof plants to thwart the Easter Bunny? Because whilst the Easter bunny may bring us chocolate on Easter Sunday, rabbits are frequently a major garden pest, eating both the flowers and the vegetables!

Rabbits will eat almost any plant, and if hungry will munch on all but the most strong-smelling or spiky plants. For our average gardener who thought rabbits were pet bunnies and not garden pests, to be faced with a decimated cottage garden border when drawing the curtains on a spring morning is not a pretty sight!

Is there a solution?

As ever, there are more solutions than one, because your garden and the plants you’re growing or want to grow are going to be individual to you. But I’ve suggested a few options for you before we get onto the list of rabbit proof spring flowering plants.

Keeping Rabbits out of Your Vegetable and Fruit Garden

Whilst erecting rabbit proof fencing can be an expensive remedy, sometimes it is the only solution. For a kitchen garden or vegetable plot it has advantages as fencing and netting can keep out rabbits, pigeons, deer, plus your pets and hens.

If you’re an allotment gardener, then having a barrier of rabbit proof fencing is possible. If you’re lucky, there will be help with digging the boundary trenches and fixing stout wire to posts.

For those gardeners who are able to have a separate area for growing fruit and veggies, fencing this off may be the best option. It’s not the easiest of tasks, but done properly will last a good few years. And you could always build it in sections if cost is an issue.

However, there are also sonic deterrents to dissuade foxes, rabbits, moles and neighbouring cats from entering your garden in the first place. However, if you have cats and dogs of your own, these are not suitable.

Simply netting your tender young plants will reduce the damage to crops from both rabbits and pigeons. And it is an easy solution if you have raised vegetable beds – which in themselves are often more rabbit proof than crops grown in the ground. Depending on how high the beds are, of course.

Keeping Rabbits out of Your Ornamental Garden

In Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit books, Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny and the Flopsy Bunnies all enjoyed squeezing under Mr MacGregor’s gate into his cottage garden. There they would eat carrots and lettuces and even nibble on some of the flowers.

It was easy for the rabbits to gain access to that garden. But our 6 rabbit proof plants are not vegetables. And erecting rabbit proof boundaries for ornamental borders is not really an option. Not least because the look of the fencing is not why you planted pretty flowers and shrubs!

Why not take a different approach? Look to grow rabbit proof plants that the bunnies will ignore, rather than making more work for yourself in your ornamental cottage garden, suburban garden or flower border.

And if you don’t currently have rabbit proof plants and flowers, it gives you a reason to indulge in a bit of retail therapy at the garden centre or plant nursery!

6 Rabbit proof plants – 3 shrubs

These three flowering spring shrubs all have scented blooms. They’ll all fit well in a planting scheme for a cottage garden or an easy maintenance garden. For those of you who prefer a more contemporary, minimal approach, the Philadelphus has the best shape, with arching stems.

Lilac

Lilac, Syringa vulgaris, is a great favourite in the spring garden, and rightly so. Scented flowers in purple, white or pink fill both house and garden with a delicious perfume. The fact that it is also rabbit proof is a bonus!

Philadelphus

Philadelphus, or ‘mock orange’ is an arching deciduous shrub, flowering during April and May. The white flowers have a strong scent and are lovely cut as sprays for the house. Philadelphus ‘virginal’ is the most usual variety grown, but for a smaller garden Philadelphus ‘manteau d’hermine’ is the better choice.

Ribes

Ribes, the flowering currant, is more usually seen as the pinky-red flowered shrub, Ribes sanguineum. However, Ribes oderatum is a scented, yellow flowered shrub, and, I have to admit, my favourite of all the flowering currants. A more unusual addition to your garden, perhaps. The leaves are pretty, so the foliage makes an attractive background to summer flowering plants such as echinops (which is another rabbit proof plant)

6 Rabbit proof plants – 3 herbaceous perennials

Ground covering plants with spring flowers are many. Unfortunately, their weed suppressant nature means they are easy for rabbits to find, reach and munch upon! The following herbaceous perennials are tried and tested: I’ve planted them as part of garden designs as well as grown them myself. Although do remember that rabbits, like humans, vary in their tastes, so you may need to try different varieties within each plant species.

Aquilegia

Aquilegia, Columbine, ‘granny’s bonnets’ – a much loved cottage garden flower. This popular flower can be found in a range of colours with both single and double flower forms available. They do self-seed if allowed, and the resulting offspring may look different to the parent, so if you only want white Aquilegia then remember to take off the seed heads before they pop open.

Brunnera macrophylla

Brunnera macrophylla, Siberian bugloss is a ground covering perennial with heart shaped leaves. these may be green or variegated. the flowers which are reminiscent of forget-me-nots can be blue, blue and white.

In my new garden, the three Brunnera I brought with me are still in pots (long story). Pretty sure they’ve survived, although they do seem to be sulking – a good reason to buy a few more perhaps?

Pulmonaria

Pulmonaria, also known as ‘lungwort’ as it was thought to be a herbal remedy for chest infections; the white spotted leaves resembling infected lungs. Flowers of blue and pink are most usual; sometimes both can be found on the same plant. The white flowered form Pulmonaria ‘sissinghurst’ is named for Vita Sackville-West’s famous white garden at Sissinghurst castle in Kent and is the best of the white flowered pulmonaria. See blog link below for more on Pulmonaria.

and finally

The spring flowering shrubs and spring flowering herbaceous perennials I’ve suggested are plants that you may already have in your garden. If you need to purchase them, they will give you a colourful and scented spring border, to enjoy over Easter and for the coming weeks.

I’ll re-visit rabbit proof plants for summer flowers and for the vegetable plot in another blog. But if you’d like be inspired with rabbit themed planting check out the blog and printable below.

In the meantime, enjoy the chocolate from your Easter bunny! And have a look through our chocolate garden and planting ideas below including free printables for you.

And if you’d like a pretty yet practical cottage garden of your own, that’s rabbit resistant, personal professional advice helps you to get it right and saves you money. Funnily enough, I know someone who could help you with that, so do get in touch.

Plews offers both planting designs, garden designs and 1-2-1 gardening courses to support you and improve your garden.

For further gardening advice and inspiration, check out Plews Potting Shed blogs, including the selection below and our monthly Tipsheet – You could come and find us on Instagram Pinterest and Facebook too.

And on that note, you can have a peek at my new garden in the (new) Instagram account @spitfiresandslowworms where rabbits are a minor concern …