Rabbit proofing your garden

How to keep Rabbits out of your prized perennials and veggie patch. Whether it’s Rabbits or Deer, animals in your garden can cause all kinds of trouble. Nibbled trees and ruined veg’ crops aren’t good. So save yourself the tears and invest in some animal proof fencing. If you suffer from both Rabbits and Deer it is sometimes more economical to combine the fencing, reducing the number of posts required. Rabbits. Rabbits are seriously bad news for gardeners, so it’s best to keep them out if you can. To achieve this you need to surround your garden with rabbit netting with a maximum hexagonal hole size of 31mm (measured vertically) and with a minimum height of 0.9m above ground. Any lower and large Rabbits can jump it, so the overall height of the netting needs to be a minimum of 1.05m. You can either dig a vertical trench of 150mm to bury your wire in or you can fold 150mm wire out flat along the ground (rabbit-side), using metal netting pins to hold it down or you can turn the turf back and hide the netting underneath. This way has advantages, as rabbits usually hop up to a fence then start to dig when they hit the wire netting just under the surface, they will stop and hopefully, go somewhere else. If you set the wire in vertically then they will make bigger holes before they realise that there’s no way through. The rabbit netting can be attached to existing fencing or a hedge for support. Alternatively, set pointed treated softwood or chestnut posts at 2 to 3metres apart. The netting can be attached using tie wire or small staples, you can even use plastic cable ties. Tip – Knocking in posts next to established hedges can be difficult. To make this easier you can use metal fencing pins instead of posts. As these are a made from metal rod they drive in much easier between the roots. To make the netting stronger Line wires (2.5 or 3mm) can be added level with the top of the netting and just above ground level. The netting is clipped to the line wires about every 600mm with metal netting rings or cable ties. To complete the job you need to check your gates are rabbit proof. You can easily attach netting to the back of palisade gates with staples to close the gaps. The gap under the gate needs to be no more than 25mm, you can add a timber strip to the bottom to decrease the gap if required. Don’t forget the ground directly under the gate, if it is soil you may need to insert a 150mm deep board into the ground directly under the gate so that the top is level with the soil. (it should not be raised up as it will become a trip hazard.) Rabbits (particularly young ones) can squeeze through small gaps so being thorough is really important and will save you a lot of heartaches later on if they sneak in. So have a measure up and call our team on 01892 864646 for your free quote, we look forward to hearing from you! Coming soon… Protecting your garden from Deer!