r abbit-Proof Plants

By Angela Fry, Oldina, Tas.

Angela shares her top picks for colourful and resilient plants for restoring rabbit damaged gardens.

At present there is an ongoing battle at Lovelock Farm between us and the increasing population of rabbits enjoying our garden and lawn. Mark has completed the restoration of the rabbit eroded bank beside the driveway (described in GR 276). Now it is time to assess which plants are surviving and can be successfully used to replant the bank as well as re-establishing other damaged areas of the garden.

Much to our dismay, the magnificent Bidens ferrurifolia ‘Goldmound’ border plants, which were gloriously covered with a mass of bright yellow flowers along many of the garden edges, have been munched down to struggling unidentifiable fine branching stems. Thankfully, it has been easy to propagate from rescued cuttings, and will be grown on in the hothouse, ready to plant in a future when rabbits are a pest of the past.

Areas of exposed soil, complete with mini mineshafts excavated by determined bunnies, are appearing throughout the garden where just days ago flowering groundcovers and low growing shrubs were flowering prolifically.

What we have noticed is that the rabbits seem to dislike strongly scented plants including herbs, and this could be a clue to living with rabbits which are trapped within the rabbit and wallaby proof fence of the house yard.

Protective m easures

It has always been necessary for us to protect new plantings from being grazed down by wallabies and rabbits who cannot resist the succulent shoots of newly planted tubestock or young plants. They also love freshly dug soil. Avoid the temptation to leave your plants before putting in place a physical barrier such as a plant guard. If you do so, disappointment will surely follow when you return the next day, your hard-earned labour and precious plants will be munched down unrecognisably or dug up.

P L ant g uards

To protect plants from animals and strong wind while plants are becoming established, use fluteboard plant guards, secured in place with recyclable bamboo stakes. Our guards and stakes have served their purpose well and have been reused many times over the past 20 years.

When planting out, it is good practice to get into the habit of completing the process one at a time before moving on to the next plant: dig a hole the appropriate size, water the hole, place the plant in, backfill gently with soil, firm down, put the guard in place, hammer in the wooden or bamboo stakes, water in, then move on.

w ire cy L inders

As the plant outgrows the fluteboard guard, it is usually safe to remove it when the plant appears strong enough to support itself and the woody growth has become firm. wire PL ant B askets r a BB it

Some plants need further protection, and a wire surround made from small diameter chicken wire, formed into a cylinder and secured with wire clips works well. This will not deter rabbits from eating the foliage that pushes through the wire, but will prevent it from being totally destroyed, as happened with our lovely daisy-like Brachyscombe augustifolia ‘Mauve Mystique’.

I wonder if a wire topiary shape could be used and kept neatly trimmed by the obliging rabbits? That could be an experiment for another day.

Old plant baskets rescued from a local plant nursery are firmer than chicken wire, and were used to protect groundcovers, such as the bright purple-cerise summer flowering, mat-forming evergreen Heterocentron elegans ‘Trailing Lasiandra’, held in place with tent pegs. Even though the plant can still be nibbled, the firmer wire makes it a little more difficult for the rabbit to dig the soil around the plant and prevents the roots of the plant from being exposed or destroyed.

resistant PL ants

From observations we have made over the past few weeks within our own garden, there are still plenty of plants which have proven to be resistant to the appetite of those pesky cottontails. As the rabbits’ food sources deplete, these plants may start to have appeal, but a scattering of Dynamic Lifter around the garden beds seems to deter them for a short time. g roundcovers, Border PL ants and H er B s m auve cL usters

Scaevola is a perennial groundcover with a mass of purple, fan-shaped flowers for most of the year. The foliage is lush and bright green. It grows best in a sunny to partly shaded position, in moist well-drained soil. While these plants have survived the rabbit attack, the area of exposed soil between shows no trace of the pretty pink-flowering Lamium maculatum ‘Pink Pewter’, with its variegated silver green creeping foliage that was growing abundantly up until a couple of weeks ago.

Nepeta cataria or catmint has proved to be a resilient aromatic border plant beside pathways. The leaves have a strong minty smell and this plant has a reputation for attracting and intoxicating cats, but is not appealing to rabbits. very little attention in a very exposed section of garden. Its glossy dark green leaves form a thick mat, which is rarely penetrated by weeds. The white single daisy like flowers are papery and last well when dried. The rabbits have shown no interest in eating either the flowers or the foliage of this reliable groundcover.

It has mauve flowers along a delicate flower spike, creating a misty show of colour above dark green foliage which can be neatly trimmed as a border. It is easy to prune back hard after flowering, and is simple for the home gardener to propagate.

Hibbertia pedunculata is a small, Australian native evergreen shrub with a sprawling habit. It is long flowering, from spring to autumn, bearing a mass of bright yellow flowers. Used in our garden as a border plant, the rabbits have not yet touched it. This plant has survived drying out in summer, as well as coping with long, wet and cold winters with occasional frost.

Pig F ace

The pigface variety Carbobrotus glaucescens has proved to be a very reliable and rabbit-proof plant in several areas of our garden. We first used this plant to gain a quick groundcover over a steep sloping section of garden. It spread over the top of the wood mulch, sending down roots and stabilising the mulch from slipping away, in effect self-layering. The vibrant cerise flowers are stunning, when open they turn their heads towards the direction of the sun. As they die off, the dead stems form a type of matting stabilising the ground, and providing ground level trellising for other groundcovers such as native violet, Viola hederacea , a stemless perennial to spread amongst.

m edium size FL owering PL ants and s H ru B s

g o L den d iosma

Golden diosma or Coleonema pulchrum is another strongly aromatic evergreen shrub that does not appeal to rabbits. This dwarf heather-like shrub provides contrast in any garden, with its beautiful golden-green foliage, and when flowering in spring is covered in tiny star shaped mauve or white flowers. It is hardy and can tolerate windy conditions, preferring a sunny location. We have had great success using it alongside the native Crowea exalta ‘Festivale’ as an edging plant beside steps and walkways. An occasional prune keeps it compact and it is trouble free.

Penstemon

Penstemon is a reliable cottage garden plant, easy to grow from cuttings, flowering in many shades of pink and red growing on upright stems rising from a woody base. It is frost hardy, long flowering and rabbit proof.

B L ue s a L via Black and blue salvia, Salvia guaranitica , one of many varieties of the sage plant, has startling dark blue flowers, and resists rabbits, needing to be pruned back hard at the end of flowering season.

Pond PL ants

Lastly, I just couldn’t resist mentioning the angel’s fishing rod, Dierama pulcherrimum, which is very happy to grow beside several of our garden ponds. The rabbits can’t reach the flowers which hover over 1m high. The strappy leaves are too tough for them to eat, and they don’t appear to dig or burrow beneath them. The flowers come in many shades of pink and cerise, and are attached on long, very delicate looking stems, which look like a fishing rod, with the flowers gently swaying and bobbing gently in the breeze. Over time, this plant has spread, but has not become a nuisance weed.

S Tay Encouraged

If you have become discouraged by the damage caused by rabbits in your garden, I hope this article has given you some hope, suggesting a few rabbit proof species to plant and how to protect them as you continue to enjoy the beauty and colour of your garden.

Angela shared part 1 in GR 276. T