THE MODERN MINT BLOG
One Way to Deal with Rabbits in the Garden
When planting new borders at Waltham Place, the wonderful gardener Henk Gerritsen did this to stop rabbits from eating the new plants…
“It is a well known fact that once a perennial plant border has established itself, it becomes far less appealing for grazing animals, as young plants are much tastier.
In order to protect the new plantings, it was decided to scatter large quantities of seed of fast growing biennials, such as hemlock and woolly burdock. The first plant is so poisonous no animal would dare eat it…”
- Buddleja
- Cornus
- Cotoneaster
- Dogwood
- Escallonia
- Euonymus
- Ilex
- Laurel
- Laurus
- Philadelphus
- Pieris
- Rosemary
- Taxus
Perennials Rabbits May Not Eat:
- Aconitum
- Alchemilla
- Bergenia
- Crocosmia
- Epimedium
- Euphorbia
- Ferns
- Forget-me-not
- Foxgloves
- Hellebore
- Hemerocallis
- Iris
- Libertia
- Peony
- Persicaria
- Sedum
- Trillium
- Verbena
For a really great and far more comprehensive list, please try Spring Reach Nursery – rabbit proof plants.
Where does this leave us then?
Rabbit Proof Gardening
Members of the Iridaceae and Buttercup family are seemingly less tasty or poisonous, so you may want to fill your garden with them. If a plant is aromatic or exudes a milky sap, this may also help deter a rabbit. The list above proves there is still lots of great garden plants available to use, but we speak with this caveat – a rabbit may eat your plants even if they supposedly dislike it, because when hunger strikes…
The only 100% way to stop a rabbit eating the plants in your garden is to add a fence or get a border terrier. Or maybe try this Saluki?
Good luck defending your garden from rabbits!
Holiday For A Week!
We now have everything back in stock on the pruning tools front – hurray! Take a look at what you might like for doing any cutting and clipping this Autumn…. Also, please note the following: We Are Away From Wednesday 12th September, Until Thursday 20th September, So No Orders Will Be Sent Out During This Time! Is that ok? If you do make an order and then realise we won’t be sending it out, then we will send you a refund when we get back. Just let us know via email what you prefer. Otherwise, we will send out the …
Running Low
Sorry to people asking for some of our pruning tools, but we have run out of a few items and are waiting for more to arrive. I did a number of garden talks this week and demonstrated the quality of some of the tools. This led to a run which I hadn’t anticipated! So apologies again if you are missing out, but everything should be back in stock by next week. Many thanks for all your support here at Modern Mint! Darren
A Very British Garden – New Garden Talk For 2019
A brand new garden talk for 2019? My, what exciting news! Having had a busy summer, with the topiary work exploding after the Guardian article, I have plans to write a new garden talk for next year. So far I have written 6 different talks in the 4 years I have been running Modern Mint, 4 of which are still available for you to book. They are: What Do I Do With This Space? A garden talk that looks at how other cultures treat their outdoor spaces. A mixture of funny stories and practical advice, it shares techniques people from …