Tips for Gardening with Rabbits
Easter weekend is upon us and wouldn’t you know, we found a bunny hutch in a garden. Bunny hutches are interesting because sometimes they don’t look like much at all.
But this Easter Bunny has clearly hopped out of his hutch, leaving a small empty hole – and some fur – behind.
In addition to the rabbit fur, also left behind are dry leaves that the rabbit mom used to cover the hutch. She chose a smart spot near a home because it also provided extra partial cover from a roof overhang. However, she also chose a spot that happened to be near where a couple of hawks were nesting just above. Nonetheless, by the looks of it, this Easter bunny got out safely.
Caring for the Bunny in the Garden
Bunny hutches can be sort of hidden in plain sight. The mother might use the ground cover that you’ve provided for your garden to simply cover the hutch, making it hard to spot. This area is mostly a container garden with several ornamental in-ground plants and herbs. The ground cover was pine straw, but as you can see, many dried leaves were allowed to settle.
When it comes to finding hutches, sometimes you can see a disturbance on the ground easily and some covering of the hole is minor.
Either way protect the bunny and hutch from your pets, lawn mower and over-watering. Here it could have been easy to water the entire area. Instead, once the hutch was spotted, it was just as easy to avoid watering there when hand watering the plants. Obviously, rain is okay, but this rabbit mom did a great job finding a place where even a heavy rain couldn’t get in due to the roof overhang.
If there is a baby inside, don’t worry, the mom is coming back for her. No need to “rescue” the bunny. Mom doesn’t usually stay in the hutch with the baby or babies, which are actually called kits or kittens. She returns for feeding and care. It’s also somewhat common for a hutch to get reused.
In this case, as Easter week approached, this Easter bunny had hopped out of his hutch.
Caring for the Garden:
Bunnies, Rabbits and Gardening
with Rabbit Manure Fertilizer
Rabbit poop makes one of the best fertilizers. So, if you have a rabbit in the garden already, it is way easier than following bunnies around with a tiny pooper scooper. But, if you need more organic fertilizer, we recommend our FertaFlow.
Also, Rabbit manure has four times more nutrients than cow or horse manure. Furthermore, it is twice as rich as chicken manure. Cow, horse and chicken manure all need to be composted to use as fertilizers. However, one of the best things about rabbit manure is it doesn’t need to be composted. (Either does FertaFlow, did we mention that? )
A Garden Safe from Rabbits
Since bunnies and rabbits are plant eaters, they’re herbivores, they can make a quick feast of your vegetable garden. (By the way, bunnies and rabbits are the same species. Bunnies are just smaller rabbits or younger and less formal.)
Some Bunny Rabbit Safe Foods Include:
- Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Artichokes
- Asparagus
- Onions.
- Potatoes
- Squash
Our products for plant nutrition, fertility and water management are safe for the wildlife.
For a healthy garden we recommend:
- SoilPlex for humic and fulvic acids to increase nutrient absorption and a carbon source for improved soil health and remediation. OMRI listed for organic gardening.
- FertaFlow, organic whole, cold pressed fish fertilizer. (If you can’t scoop enough rabbit poop.)
- Carbotein for increased budding, flowering, yields and growth.
- Duration, a wetting agent, soil surfactant for water management to increase the soil’s water holding capacity, plant uptake and evenly dispersed water absorption in the soil.
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Happy Holy Week and Happy Easter!