How to Plant
If rabbits are desperate, they will try just about anything. They may eat a particular kind of plant in your yard, but not eat the same plant in your neighbor’s garden.
For a fighting chance remember the following:
- Use plants that are big enough to survive nibbling.
- Put chicken wire around newly planted or small plants.
- Use plants that are aromatic (smelly) or sappy.
- Bury all drip irrigation tubing – yes, they will chew into this, too.
- Don’t over water! Rabbits like nothing better than to munch on a juicy, water filled plant.
Some plant species that rabbits may ignore:
| Type | Resistant species |
| Agave | All varieties |
| Aloe | All varieties |
| Bird of Paradise | Caesalpinia pulcherrima |
| Brittlebush | Encelia farinosa |
| Cacti | Most varieties of native cacti |
| Creosote | Larrea tridentata |
| Cuphea | Cuphea hyssopifolia, Cuphea llavea |
| Dalea | Dalea greggii, Dalea bicolor |
| Desert Zinnia | Zinnia acerosa, Zinnia grandiflora |
| Emu Bush | Eremphila maculata, Eremophila decipiens |
| Eucalyptus | All varieties are highly aromatic |
| Evergreen Sumac | Rhus choriophylla |
| Geranium | Especially scented varieties |
| Goldeneye | Viguiera deltoidea |
| Gopher Plant | Euphorbia rigida |
| Iris | Bearded, Dutch, Siberian, Japanese |
| Lantana | Most varieties |
| Lavender | All varieties of Lavandula |
| Lavender Cotton | Santolina chamaecyparissus |
| Marigold | Tagetes lemmonii, Tagetes lucida |
| Mint | Mentha, All varieties |
| Nandina | Nandina domestica |
| Oenothera | O. caespitosa. O. berlandieri, O. stubbei |
| Pineapple guava | Feijoa sellowiana |
| Plumbago | Plumbago auriculata, Plumbago scandens |
| Red Yucca | Hesperaloe parviflora |
| Rosemary | Rosmarinus |
| Salvia (Sage) | All varieties – Salvia greggii etc. |
| Sophora | S. secundiflora |
| Verbena | Most varieties |
| Yucca | Yucca rigida |
