How to Keep Rabbits Away From Gazania

Rabbits love to eat gazanias.

Gazanias, or treasure flowers, include multiple species of flowering annual plants with blooms that resemble daisies. Flowers are typically yellow, orange or red. They are easy to grow, don't require fertile soil, and tolerate dry conditions. Their silvery-gray foliage adds to the appeal of this plant when you use it in sunny flowerbeds or containers. However, in areas where rabbits are present, the animals can wreak havoc on gazanias.

Things You'll Need

• Chicken wire or 1-inch mesh
• Stakes
• Hammer
• Sturdy wire
• Wire cutters
• Weed whacker
• Box trap(s)
• Wire live trap(s)
• Apple slices
• Carrots
• Oats
• Approved poison (optional)

Instructions

1. Spy on your gazania plants at dawn and dusk to determine if rabbits are indeed the pests causing damage. When rabbits eat plant leaves, they typically eat them at a 45-degree angle: this sign is another way of determining if rabbits are at fault.

2. Remove all tall weeds in the area near your gazanias. Eliminating the rabbits' hiding places will force them farther from your plants.

3. Construct a simple fence around your gazania bed. Use chicken wire or other sturdy wire, and make your fence 18 inches tall. Drive stakes into the soil 2 to 3 feet apart, and attach your chicken wire with lengths of wire.

4. Set live traps or box traps. Bait live traps with slices of apples or carrots or oats.

5. Poison the rabbits if the problem is severe, making sure you use only products that are approved for rabbits in your county and state.

Tips & Warnings

• The Humane Society in your community might loan live traps for use with rabbits.

• Use extreme caution when you work with traps and poison. A drug called pindone is common for use against rabbits.

References

• HortAnswers: Treasure Flower
• University of Florida Cooperative Extension; Gazania Spp.; Edward F. Gilman, et al.; October 1999
• Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management: Rabbit Control and Management Information