Are the main canes damaged? I would think it would not be too horrible to have them 'pruned' back. They come back after a BS 'attack' when all the leaves drop. I would cover them with ckn wire asap. and watch them.. You need two Dachshunds! Mine catch the rabbits, chase the squirrels and harass the deer enough that they stay away from the roses and other garden plants..

They tend to leave the canes alone (at least I didn't spot obvious damage) and go for the new little leaves (yum, rose salad.....aaaaaaah!) That is encouraging to think that they can come back from major blackspot (although I don't think I've ever lost every #$@* leaf in those cases).

Sadly the cats are indoor and not hunters and we have no dogs. I could encourage the hawks though. They used to keep the bunnies spooked a bit more, but I haven't seen much of them this spring. I think there's been lots of food in the woods next door, so they haven't been stalking morning doves and other critters in my yard as vigilantly as in prior years.

I wonder if a sprinkling of this powder I have with hot peppers (supposed to keep squirrels out of the birdseed) would be added insurance.

I've had the same problem and it's sooo infuriating! What I do is to save thorny rose prunings and then put these in a circle around small roses until the rodents lose interest. It's not pretty but it gives the roses a chance to grow up and that's more important than temporary unsightliness. Mixing in rosemary branches also seems to help because they have such a strong odor.

You can try repellents but you have to be diligent and respray most of them after every rain for them to be effective.

I don't know how much this would apply to other situations, but last few years the bunnies were driving me nuts also. And it wasn't just my roses they were marauding.

My neighbor had a big pile of cement blocks (with the holes in the middle) piled up behind his garage--about 3 feet from my property. Gradually I became aware the the bunnies were often coming or going behind those cement blocks. Happened to mention that to my neighbor--who went out and cleaned out that area. No more bunnies nesting there, hence no more bunnies running around my yard on a regular basis. Don't know where they went, but I was noticing just a couple days ago that several plants they had previously nearly detroyed by eating them to the ground have returned with robust and abundant growth! Hallelujah!

So if you could locate where the bunnies are nesting (and hiding) and could get that cleaned out thoroughly, you might have a noticeable decrease in bunny activitiy in your gardens.

Good luck. I remember how they drove me nuts!

Kate

I have 40 chicken wire cylinders piled up on my back property line for such an event. When I see rabbit damage I place one over the bush. Some years I have all 40 in use. The find better things to eat as the roses get older and the canes harden. New growth contains natural sugars that theu seem to like. This year hasn't been bad. Only had to use one on my Morden Sunrise.

I had a friend who is a hairdresser that recently told me that human hair is a deterrent for bunnies. I've never tried it myself, but perhaps it's worth a shot.

We use the hardware cloth covered with green vinyl.

Thanks for commiserating and for all of the useful suggestions--I had no idea how creative people got (hair, thorns, wow) in surrounding their plants to deter rabbits! Might be better than my approach of years past, of storming out to catch them in the act.

I used to have some chicken wire, but yesterday I could only find enough to cage in the three plants out front (the place where there was munching). I've closed the gate to the back garden and am hoping they don't get adventurous and go marauding there before the weekend run to Home Depot.

We also have a wooded area nearby (owned by the neighbors, so I can't clear it unfortunately). But the back yard gardens are down a wall so the danger of being trapped hawk feed used to keep them away.

I wonder if there is any way to encourage more hawks to visit, beyond leaving out food for the smaller birds.

I've been using Milorganite this Spring on the roses and hostas to keep Bambi away and so far it's worked...no more munched leaves. Even Thumper is leaving 'Sachet' alone, and he's particularly fond of that mini. I noticed that after poor 'Sachet' that eaten almost to the ground, it looks marvelous now, so yours should rebound well if you get them protected from further dining adventures.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Milorganite keeps on working. I live in a hot zone in the country with tons of wildlife, so I provide a tasty buffet for all the creatures to enjoy -:(.

That is a really good idea, although I share the critters dislike of the smell of Milorganite.

Ughh! I was outfoxed again--went out this morning and the third of the chicken fenced plants, the only one which still had a few leaves and one bud, now has had its bud nipped off and on the ground and more leaves chewed.

So the critter is small enough to fit through the 3-4 inch gaps in the fencing--must be a baby bunny, since this would have kept the adults out for sure. I'm going to have to get some fine mesh fencing it appears. Will get some milorganite as well if they have it--that will double as a light fertilizer treatment as well!

I think the Plant Tone fertilizer is stronger than the smell of Milorganite. At any rate, it disappates in a day or so...well worth saving the plants. Wouldn't it be wondrous if it works on keeping away the JB horde that is about to descend next month!

Yes, if it is a deterrent it would be well worth it...and if you know of anything that deters the hordes of JBs, please do tell. Nothing I do works if they arrive when things are blooming, as I have the best smelling place for miles around.

Still all coming up rabbits here...it's got to be bad, since the kids now greet me in the evening by whispering "It's vewwy, vewwy quiet, we are hunting wabbits!" and pointing out the two on the lawn, which then go scurrying as we chase them.

None of the deterrents have had any except (other than the rotten egg smelling one, which deterred me from the roses!) The rabbits didn't seem to mind a bit. They stepped right over the milorganite to chow down. I tried clearing the area they're hiding in, but there appears to be a whole bunch of babies in an area I can't clear.

Finally, I got little fence circles around all of the new plants, and even then I screwed up with one and they got through a spot on the bottom and chomped at it. Once the new roses were fenced, they went after the cone flower (they can only get at the bottom though) and chowed on my annuals.

So I've just ordered one of those Havahart rabbit traps, to try to relocate these fellows OUT of my garden. I've no idea whether there are tricks to setting/baiting these those (what to use? carrots?) so if anyone has caught and relocated critters from their gardens, let me know.