I left the canes I pruned from my roses scattered around my rose garden. I don't know if it worked b ut I haven't had any damage from critters this year. I do the same thing in my hosta garden where I know rabbits can eat the new shoots.

Try scattering around Shake Away. It works for me.

Deanna

When I plant bands, which are the most likely to be attacked, I usually make a barrier around them with pruned rose canes and so far I've been very successful. I try to make a high enough barrier to make it painful to get near the rose. This is rather unsightly but worth it, and when I later take the barrier down I think they have the idea in their mind that that particular rose is still unapproachable.

Wire fencing.

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I use chicken wire but make a cylinder out of it to put around any bushes they seem to like especially well. Right now I have about fifty bushes protected this way. The critters are sneaky this year, While I've seen damage, I've not seen any rabbits. They must know I have a pellet pistol which I'll use on any I see. They already know to avoid the Havaheart trap I have.

I've been using hardware cloth covered with green vinyl--more expensive but looks a lot better than bare wire. I use a hard wire shear to cut it. I never use a pair of diagonal cutters which will leave sharp points on the wires.

What do you use to anchor the hardware cloth to the ground?

Deanna

Some times I'll use the rose tag to hold it to the ground. But, these days, I'll just make the hoop wide and squat and not really bother attaching it to the ground. It is also possible to bury it in the ground a little but, but when you have dozens of roses to protect, the time can be better used for other tasks.

Here is a link that might be useful: Paw Paw Everlast rose labels

I,too, have had a terrible problem with rabbits and roses.By the way, they also have destroyed my lilies. I have found the wire cages like hoovb uses is my only solution. It does not make for a beautiful garden, but at least I have roses and lilies.My pink Daisy b b gun is also a help, but I`m kinda chicken to use it unless they press my buttons!! A good hunting cat has been recomended too. Good luck, as I know this can be such a big problem. Lesley

Fencing is probably best, but, here some other ideas.

http://flowergardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/protect_flower_beds_from_wild_rabbits

Hi Folks,

Thanks very much for commenting. I can see we're not the only ones with a rabbit problem! If I should discover that the chicken wire on the ground idea works at all, I'll certainly let you know.

As soon as the rabbit ate the rose a second time, we surrounded it with a tomato cage with rabbit wire built in at the bottom, so the rose is safe from rabbits for the time being (probably). But that particular rose may not recover. I see some blackened stem areas now that will have to be cut off and there'll be so little stem area left for the rose to quickly produce some energy-boosting leaves.

Complication: since the rabbit ate all the leaves and all the stems except for a few larger canes, I've no good way to evaluate this rose for RRD now, and am wondering about the blackened stems in patches that don't start at the tips (sometimes that can happen with RRD). Well, even without foliage or stems, I could look for a thorniness increase, red thorns, or red streaks on the canes. But RRD-infected roses don't necessarily get any of these symptoms in the earliest stages, so I'm thinking about whether to keep the rose at all, given the risk. We have lost 10 out of our original 13 roses to RRD in the last few weeks, and now have lost 3 from those many new roses delivered in April, with some more of those isolated now on suspicion.

But if and assuming we keep the rose and that it does recover (both iffy), the cage there now couldn't work for the long run; the rose is Mrs. Dudley Cross, which will outgrow the cage by miles. And larger encircling rabbit cages lining up along our yard's road frontage for all the roses destined for that planting area would kind of defeat the purpose of growing something beautiful there.

But it's fairly important to keep the rabbits from getting into nibbling distance of the roses, since we have a very, very bad problem with RRD here now and the rabbits could so easily spread the infected mites from one rose to another if they can get close enough to nibble on or brush against any part of the roses. So if the chicken wire rabbit flooring might work, it would help hugely. And might for others, as well. If it does work in the long run, I'll eventually post that information here... with especially large WooHoos!

Best wishes,
Mary

Mary,
Have you checked up wind for RRD infected wild multiflora? There may be a large patch that's the source of your mites.

You shouldn't need to leave the cage on permanently. Rabbits only bother small tender, new growth on roses. Once the rose gets fairly large the new growth is too high up or too hard to get to and the rabbits will leave it alone. Liquid Fence works fairly well, but it washes off and the rabbits will still attack the plant even if they don't eat it if they really like it.

Most roses will survive being eaten to the ground once, but twice in the same season is iffy, and the third time is a dead rose. Stupid rabbits.

Also, I hate to say it, but if you're losing that many to RRD you might want to consider something other than roses in that spot.

"Rabbits only bother small tender, new growth on roses. Once the rose gets fairly large the new growth is too high up or too hard to get to and the rabbits will leave it alone."

Incorrect. I caught it red-handed tonight; the cane had grown, 2' tall, and thrown a bloom. It was established and had been there for a few weeks and it was not tender. The rabbit chewed it completely off at the base, avoided all the thorns, and dragged it to the neighbor's yard to eat when I came upon it.

I saw a very small bunny yesterday and he/she was eating a cane of a very large Knockout. There were lots of other things to eat and this is what was chosen. This sighting was where I work, which is a university conference center and there are extensive gardens with many more succulent choices. I guess it just depends on the rabbit what they like to eat.

That's funny. My rabbits don't bother anything over their heads except plum trees. For some reason plum trees taste good enough that they'll rear up on their hind legs and chew it off as high as they can reach. But the roses are only bothered for maybe two months in spring.

I hate it when they bite off a cane and just leave it there uneaten. #$^&^%*@$!

Pee there. I'm not kidding! Well, you might discreetly collect the human scent (ahem) in a pretty watering can in privacy, but dribble it around the territory you want them to be afraid of.

And plant some lettuce for them far away :D

We do the same thing Hoovb does. My DH made fences in all sizes from Chicken wire----we have a problem with groundhogs and this helps------

Florence

While meredith_e's suggestion may seem funny, in reality it's a good idea. Wild animals tend to stay away from areas with a strong human scent.
Urine has a strong human scent but it washes away quickly in the rain or when you water. Drink lots of water or beer to make sure you have sufficent quantities of the stuff and store it in a closed container in your refrigerator.
Or you can just go out at night and squat in the garden. Beware of the rose thornes on your tender areas.

We have had roses for years and never had rabbits. Now they are everywhere. We think they have come down from the hills in SB where all the fires were. After spending thousands of dollars on installing my permanent rose garden the rabbits took over. I have been reduced to tears as I go out and see the destruction. We have chicken wired all 500 roses. It is an eyesore and they still dig under the wire. I can't wait to send my husband out to pee all over the rose garden! He will love it. Men. They love to mark their territory. Great suggestion. I'll let you know how it works!
Eileen

Red Pepper Flakes work good, they get one whiff of that up their nose and they will not come back. You have to lay it on thick though, even in the rain it still stays potent.

I use hardware cloth fences around young roses like hoovb. By the time they're 3 feet, the fences can be removed. Don't secure the closures so tightly you can't reopen them and don't let large basals grow through the holes in your fencing. I never find damage on mature plants, only on tender young plants. We have different rabbits than you, tho: Lepus californicus, a big hare.

I have rabbits come into my yard every year, but they never eat any of my roses or anything else. That's because I have two Siberian Huskies that get a hold of the unlucky ones and the rest escape through the fence. They never get a chance to nibble on my plants.

i have a new gardens and the rabbits have eaten almost everything including rose bushes, i spent alot of money and tried different things , for longest while wooden shish kabob sticks worked pointy side up in soil, cheap way as well, but now eating again roses'

i need to borrow your huskie, my chichi and 4 lb terrierwont do'

I find that if rabbits have OTHER plants to eat, they are less likely to eat roses. So I plant "cheap" plants for them to eat, like Asiatic Lillies (big bag of bulbs from Walmart cheap), or hardy snapdragons. I see bunnies eat the tiny weeds like clover in my garden, so they actually help to clean up my garden. I like the suggestion of leaving pruned branches of roses on the ground so bunnies can help themselves.

previous threads on rabbits deterrent suggested adopting a strayed cat, and I agree.

Some info. from below link: https://bigyardfun.com/protect-roses-from-rabbits/

"Most gardens have snapdragons because of their beautiful little blooms that snap open when touched. But for rabbits, snapdragons are bitter and even toxic to some extent. This is why they’re ideal as a deterrent if you’re having rabbit infestation problems in your garden.

Barrier fence

A traditional wire fence is an almost foolproof way ...Most wire fences are 30-36 inches high with a one-inch mesh to keep the rabbits away. You should also extend your barrier slightly under the ground by burying your mesh at least 6 inches to keep the rabbits from digging under your fence."

"Rabbits sniff a lot, so put aromatic plants, shrubs, and flowers in your garden. Marigolds, alyssums, ageratum, snapdragons, catnip, and strawflowers are examples of plants that repel rabbits."

https://www.rabbitcaretips.com/shrubs-flowers-plants-rabbits-wont-eat/

@strawchicago z5 the bunnies are eating everything in my garden EXCEPT the clover (which would be a good thing). the worst is when they bite a stem off and leave it. I guess they don't like it, but then they try another stem and another and another. I came out to a completely bare fern with the stems surrounding it. why why why?!>??! I am about to plant a rose and found this post - I guess I need to put a fence around it. they ate my azaleas to the ground this winter.

I give up on fencing since the baby bunnies crawl under the fence. A lazy way to deter rabbits is to put Irish Spring soap (has a minty element which deer hates). Back in 2012 I got 12 bands (tiny own-roots) from Burlington Roses, I left them outside for several days but I placed a bar of soap in front of them. None were eaten.

One night I heard a loud coughing & hacking noise, it was a raccoon that ate the soap and vomited that in a long trail of soapy bits across my garden. It was a mess to clean that up from the grass.

Husband recycled the paper box that contained Irish Spring Soap and that stank up my entire kitchen. So I brought that stinky paper outside and placed on my raised bed .. haven't seen rabbits jumping on that bed for over a week, and the paper still reeked of soap.

I found segments of branches & smeared that with soap and placed the branches as a "SOAPY SCENT BORDER" around rose bush. So far I haven't seen any rabbits around those "soap-scented" sticks-border, and the rain doesn't wash the scent away from sticks like smearing on bricks. Woody sticks and paper retain the soapy scent longest.

Strong odor works for deer-control. Deer used to eat the leaves on my tall roses. So I hung Bounce-dryer sheets on the branches to deter deer. Perfumed dryer sheets ARE NOT as strong as Irish spring soap (which I smell it 30 feet away). Irish spring soap works best with its minty scent.

Try a heavy dose of garlic powder around and over your vulnerable plants. Diane

@strawchicago z5 so sorry, that sounds like quite the saga! I will give the soap a try. and garlic too.