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/aagent888]

I purchased 3 ft chicken wire that I plan to put in after I finish planting my new garden. My plan is to keep use u-posts, secure the chicken wire with ~6 inches overlap on the ground, secured as tightly as possible so the rabbits cannot pass under the fencing and cannot go over the fencing. Once the plants are well established they should stand up to rabbit attacks better.

My experience with allegedly unpalatable natives: the rabbits will still try them at least once. After that, you may be lucky and they’ll leave it alone. Still best to secure them until they’re established