Rabbit-Proofing The Garden

Rabbit proofing an entire garden can be challenging, but it is possible. There are a few things that you will need to consider when making your garden a rabbit friendly area - how big a space are you willing to dedicate to them? How much are you willing to change your current garden? Are there any harmful plants growing there?

Is your garden ready for the rabbit invasion?

Maintaining a rabbit-proof garden is tricky. Not only is there a wide array of plants that could potentially be dangerous to your pets, but there is also the added risk of predators - even in city gardens. Other big problems can be possible escape, afterall, rabbits love to dig and may just burrow their way onto the other side of your fence or pots and other structures that could fall and hurt your rabbits. It is advised you supervise your rabbits when letting them roam freely in the garden to ensure nothing happens to them.

For all of these reasons it is usually best to select a portion of your garden to rabbit proof, rather than giving them access to the whole area.

If you wish to rabbit-proof a portion, then these are just some of the things that you will want to consider:

• Preventing escape: rabbits are brilliant escape artists - they can tunnel, gnaw and wriggle their way through the tiniest of cracks and crevices. You will need to set up some fencing and check it regularly to make sure that it’s secure and that tunnels are not being created.


• Stop treating plants - rabbits can be killed by pesticides, fertilisers, herbicides, fungicides, slug pellets, rat poisons, and other garden treatments.


• Removing dangerous plants - if you are in doubt about whether it’s safe for your rabbits to eat a certain plant, it’s best to remove it or to prevent access to it.


• Ensure nothing can fall on them, such as heavy plant pots or equipment propped up on fences.


• Preventing access - just as you need to stop your pets from getting out, you’ll want to prevent predators getting in. This includes cats and dogs in the daytime, and foxes and badgers at night. It’s best to keep rabbits in a large, secure run (one that is fox-proof), and to supply lots of hiding places inside it.


• Don’t leave rabbits out in the garden overnight unless they are safely secured in their hutch.


• Don’t use garden machinery when your rabbits are roaming about.

Rabbits love the great outdoors

More often than not, a standalone run will be just as great for you rabbits as access to the garden and also provides safety for your furry friends. We stock a variety of different shapes and sizes to fit your needs, or you can even customise your very own if nothing suits you. Outdoor rabbit runs can be found on our Rabbit Shop.

If you would like to extend the space currently available to your rabbits, another option is purchasing run extensions for the Eglu rabbit hutches. Visit our Rabbit Run Extensions page for more information.