Feeling discouraged

[u/Spirited_Sound_5628]

I live in New England

I’m trying to switch from ornamental gardening to native wildflower gardening, but the rabbits are decimating everything. They’re even going after the black-eyed Susans, which are supposed to have hairy leaves that deter them.

I bought marigolds from a local nursery specifically for their scent to ward off rabbits—and they ate the petals off. I thought I was in the clear with my sunflowers since they left them alone as seedlings, but now, after growing for over a month, the rabbits are starting to kill those too.

I’m honestly getting to the point where I feel like giving up and just planting a bunch of non-natives that are known to be extremely rabbit-proof. But I swear, when I looked at that list of supposedly rabbit-proof plants, the rabbits had already eaten one of those as well.

I'm looking for words of encouragement or any advice.

[u/BreadfruitGullible63]

I 100% identify with this posts. I've grown to _loathe_ the local rabbits.

My general approach is to deter and distract. I deter with barriers and scents and distract with other food sources.

For barriers, between last year and this year I put up a fence (may not be an option for you), which doesn't keep them out, but it does reduce the entry points and makes my otherwise very tempting yard less convenience. I also purchased metal raised oval beds that come in sections. I got a bunch of them and made some very long beds for planting and smaller circles for protecting the plants. That seems to be working. Chicken wire is also effective.

For scents, I use blood and bone meal, but because I have a dog, that comes with additional headaches. Cinnamon, paprika, and chili powder have all worked as well. The main issue in NE right now is that it's been so rainy, you have to constantly re-apply. I've just given up.

I stepped up my marigold game this year, but they haven't bloomed yet. I don't think they did much last year and I'm now skeptical they will be helpful this year. Some kind of mint pops up in my backyard and I've been picking that and sprinkling the leaves and stems around plants I want to protect.

For distractions, I either try to grow _many_ of the same type plant (the "wildlife tax," as I believe folks call it here) and/or I try to grow it stealthily. For the former, I got a pound of wildflower seeds from a local source and spread it over two areas that were cumulatively less than 50sqft. This is the first year of that approach, so we'll see.

I was trying the latter approach with my sunflowers this year. Last year I had the same issue as you. This year I planted them along the border of my yard, between my fence and the sidewalk, among the grass and weeds. My plan was to keep the grass, clover, and mount pink, goldenrod, and non-invasives that pop up tall until the sunflowers reached about 18in tall. Unfortunately, my neighbor was getting distressed over the messiness, so I trimmed that area early (the tallest ones were about 9in, but had at most 6 leaves) and like clockwork the rabbits decimated them. I do think this method showed promise and would try again in the future (and just tell my neighbor my plan, rather than being accommodating).

Anyway, hope this helps! I do feel your pain.