I find fences to be woefully ineffective in keeping the bunnies at bay. It would take something with openings the size of chicken wire to keep them out. I have a fence around my veggie garden and it doesn't work at all. Need improvements. I spray with a homemade bunny be gone. It is very effective, just not too long lasting. Mix two eggs with a drop of dish soap. Add water to make a quart. Blend in a blender. Spray any plant you don't want the rabbits nibbling on. They hate the smell of rotten eggs and will stay away...sometimes they will never return to that plant. Usually I spray every few weeks-especially after a rain. A quart does most of the rabbit attracting plants on my one acre spread. An outdoor cat solves the problem. I miss my outdoor kitty. On the other hand, I have more birds at the feeders now. Here is a link that might be useful: Creative Soul

Rabbits and deer will eat almost anything if they are desperate. Onions and garlic don't deter our wildlife, nor do most of the supposedly rabbit and deer proof plants. We've had rabbits graze garlic chives down to the roots. We live on a acre of cactus, yucca, thistles and all kinds of thorny brambles. We also have hawks, owls and bobcats strolling through regularly. We have deer sleeping in front of the house, rabbits hopping from one plant to another, though all the spiky, thorny brush. So don't believe the stories that predators or spiky leaves or smelly plants will protect your garden from wildlife. Commercial repellants are all based on bloodmeal or sulphurous eggs, and they are reputed to work, at least for a time. I make my own repellant - recipe is given earlier in this thread. I find this works but must be reapplied about once a month. I also use chicken wire cages around small plants. All of this is necessary when the animals have to eat or starve to death. Cheryl

We live in the northern county of San Diego in an area adjacent to chaparral. I've seen coyotes, squirrels, bunnies, hawks, gopher (yes, I actually saw the gopher - but my husband took care of that - RIP), and I understand there are owl boxes courtesy of our HOA. The bunnies are eating my husband's lawn (and sometimes my plants). The squirrels come in to eat too. The hills are dry this time of year, but we have kept our lawn and plants watered, making them yummy meals for the critters. We finished putting up some kind of fencing we were told is used to keep bunnies out. Ironically, the bunnies chewed through the fence where the back gate goes out to the wildlands - or from the wildlands into our backyard. A perfectly sized hole with nice little bits of fence scattered around the wrought iron gate. Although I did have to chuckle about it, we did work hard putting up that fence in the hottest part of the year. The rabbits were probably laughing too (rightly so - what a couple of dingdongs we are). Now my husband wants to shoot those bunnies with a pellet gun (he'd rather use something bigger, but I don't think that's legal - I'm not sure killing rabbits is legal in our area). I can understand his frustration, but I'm glad to see all the postings - you have my sincere appreciation - and will ask him to help me out with the bloodmeal and/or ammonia. I'll let you know whether it works for us or not. If those things don't work and I can't convince my husband to replace that fencing with something more sturdy, I'm afraid the rabbits will be meeting the gopher's demise. By the way, we did try other methods to deter the gopher (hair in the tunnel, plugging the tunnel) - then I read several posts and determined there was only one way to take care of the gopher; it was not the way I wanted, but the last resort. Best to all and your yards/gardens.

Hey, don't knock cats. Yes they can be PITA's, but they can also be great fun. Story in a minute, but I want to third the lava rocks. I had two small trees inside that one or two of my cats decided to use as liter boxes because they were two good to go with the others in theirs. (I have 4 cats). So we put lava rocks in the pots, and both the plants, the cats, and their humans are much happier. As for cats...true story...my uncle, who lived out in the country, hated cats. He had a stray that wouldn't go away and threatened to shoot it the next time he saw it. After coming home from church late one night with my aunt, he saw the cat sitting under the carport. He honked his horn and it wouldn't move. So he got out and looked at what the cat was staring at. It was a 3 ft long rattler. If my uncle had of gotten out of the car where he parked it normally, he would've gotten bit. Needless to say, the cat got to stay after that.