Hostas are decorative, flowering perennials often used as landscape plants. These plants are especially attractive to rabbits that will eat all the leaves and even the stems. If it is a new, young plant, rabbits may eat it down to the roots. Often, the destruction that rabbits cause ends up with the death of the plant. You can protect the plants from the devastation that rabbits cause, but it may take some persistence and creativity on your part.
Step 1
Sprinkle your young hosta plants with baby powder. It will coat the leaves and make them unpalatable to the invading rabbits. You must reapply this if it rinses off, which is likely to happen in the rain or if the plants are watered by a sprinkler.
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Step 2
Shake garlic salt over older plants. Even though you may miss some of the leaves on larger plants, the odor will repel the rabbits and stop them from eating your hostas. Reapply if the plants are watered or rained on.
Step 3
Place sweet gum seed pods in a circle around hosta seedlings. These seed pods are small round balls covered with spikes. If you don't have sweet gum pods, gather some evergreen holly branches -- or other prickly branches -- and encircle the plants with those. Rabbits will not want to cross a spiky barrier to reach your young plants.
Step 4
Plant garlic and wormwood plants around the area of your yard containing the hosta plants. Rabbits don't like the smell of either of these plants and will avoid areas that contain them. If you use them as a border for your garden or yard, the rabbits will tend to stay away.
Step 5
Fence around your hostas with rabbit-proof fencing. Chicken wire works well, as long as you use plenty of support. Make sure there are no holes underneath, so the rabbits can't sneak in.
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