The bunnies are winning.

Maybe because last year was the first year with the cutting garden, the rabbits didn’t know how delicious seedlings are? There was no bunny damage at all last year. This year, they have certainly gotten braver, often staying within two or three feet of me when I’m in the yard and the garden. In hindsight, I should have been scarier so they kept away.

The Beginning

The greenhouse is set directly on the lawn. I thought about what to lay down as a ‘floor’, since it would be impractical to mow or weed-whack inside. I had some rugs from redecorating that I thought about selling, and then figured for the nominal amount I’d recoup, why not just lay down the rugs?

So I’m weed-whacking away inside and discovered a bunny nest. Awwww… so cute, baby bunnies. Now I’m waiting for the babies to emerge and of course Mommy and Daddy are always around. And hungry. And then hungry babies.

Do I regret that decision.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

The first thing to be decimated was the ranunculus. In cut flower world, ranunculus are a hot commodity in spring. I’m not at all happy to have lost so many since I only grew about 14 or so. I jury-rigged a fence around the bed and miraculously some of the plants recovered and sent up at least one bloom. Still, a disappointment.

Without access to the ranunculus, the rabbits moved on to the branching sunflowers. I didn’t have any more wire so I improvised with double, folded over garden netting. So far so good. “Green Burst” appears to be the cultivar of choice, since the other 2 cultivars were left alone.

Now what’s a rabbit to do?

Move on to the baby’s breath. Pam wraps that bed in netting…

Next the rabbits ditch the raised beds and head across the yard to the border with the Asiatic lilies. The EXPENSIVE Asiatic lilies. See that little orange stump? That used to be a lily. More DIY fencing goes up. At least a couple of those seem to be sending up new stems. Whew.

There is a night of peace, then what do I find this morning?

The Final Straw

They climbed over and smooshed down the netting where the decimated baby’s breath was and MADE ANOTHER NEST.

Seriously?

How brazen can you get?

This time, I did not leave it there! (FYI no babies in it.) However, I do give the bunnies props for industriousness. There was a considerable amount of grass they they carried into the bed for the nest, and it’s a good 10′-12′ or more to go from the bed just to get to the lawn.

The Protection Plan

More propping up of the netting for tonight and then I went to Home Depot for proper fencing. I came home with 100′ of chicken wire, which isn’t cheap but at least more affordable than rabbit fencing. I can staple gun the wire to the beds. Easy-peasy to do that!

I did some research this afternoon, and 24″ seems to be the golden height to keep rabbits out of raised beds. The new beds are higher than the ones from last year, which is good. Over the course of this summer and fall we’ll have more boards milled and add them to all the existing beds. Hopefully, this will eliminate the bunny problem for next year.

On a cheerier note

I’ll close with picture of a few subscription bouquets. The peonies are finished and I’m impatiently waiting for Shasta daisies, snapdragons, and larkspur to bloom!