I know this is a common problem and don't want to make a fuss, but last night I first saw a rabbit chewing in my backyard. This is the result of rabbit prune that I found this morning. All of the lower branches of New Face are gone, as well as all the crocus and some tulips leaves. Thankfully NF is very vigorous so it may not be so bad.
Does anyone know if blood meal works as rabbit repellent? My garden is too small to use wire cages since I grow them pretty close to each other. The worst case is that I grow roses in pots until they're at least 2' tall. That's really a cost to me because I have so little room to keep them.

I have had great luck with a product called PlantSkydd, the liquid form.

crawgarden said: I have had great luck with a product called PlantSkydd, the liquid form.

Thank you very much, Rj. It looks like a liquid form of blood meal and rain tolerant, which I need the most since we get lots of rainy days from fall to spring. Do you know how the granular form do? I have about 180 roses and other plants so it seems unrealistic for me to spray them all.

I have not had good luck with the granular form, I would spray the liquid around the border close to the plants, choose a non windy day and be advised it does have a different smell about it; will dissipate in a few days.
Follow the directions, pay close attention to the weather directions as far as forecast moisture.
I also keep another spray bottle with water in it and occasionally put the spray mechanism in the water to clean it out, the mechanism will tend to get clogged if you do not do this.

I feel your pain! Poor Jude that was struggling, lost all but one branch to the munchers. I only had 5 peas (not plants, actual peas) due to bunnies pruning peas off at ground level. No beans, again pruned before they could blossom.

The little Dollar Tree plastic fences keep them off some of the tiny lower branches. But, they have been so bad for the last year, that I have even gotten Dollar Tree wire waste baskets over the whole thing. Bunnies eat mine in Spring and Fall, rarely summer, so you wouldn't have to spray everything all the time.

Did you recut and put them back into the soil? We use pepper here and pray to the hawks to come do their job!! Or put a trap out for them?

I placed about a 3" wide ring of cayenne pepper around the roses that were chewed. I applied the pepper for 3 consecutive days. That deterred the rabbit.

Thanks for your suggestions. I will try them all! Do you know if I need to reapply the peppers after rain? I'm a bit worried about the sweet peas and poppy seeds I direct sowed a few weeks ago, but now we're having our typical "rainy season". Do hope they'll work well. Everything is turning green so there should be more delicious food for the bunnies, probably.

I used it as a "barrier" - see link below.
If it rains you might have to add a few days to the schedule.
https://gardeningmentor.com/wi...

You can also spray with pepper. Get some tobasco or hot souce from the dollar store, dilute it and spray. You will probably have to do it every few days. Cayene pepper on the ground helps too.

Some people plant marigolds around their veggie gardens to keep bunnies and other critters away.

Do marigolds actually work as a deterrent?

Hmm, the rabbits jump past them. Maybe slows them down a few seconds around here.