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You can keep rabbits away from your beets by making it difficult for them to reach them. Raise your garden beds around 18 inches, or mound up the dirt just as high. Rabbits usually have trouble climbing, so barring any super abilities, they will fail in their attempts to raid your beets.
If you do not have raised beds, use bamboo, chicken wire, wood or wire mesh to build a fence that's at least 2 feet high, with 1- to 2-inch wide openings. Start the fence in a trench that's at least 6 to 8 inches below the soil surface to prevent rabbits from getting under the fence. Make sure to cover above and below ground, as rabbits burrow. Put a fencepost every 6 to 8 feet. If using wire, bend the bottom outward at a 90-degree angle, away from the garden.
Rabbits might find that your garden area offers satisfactory covering for their protection needs. If your garden area has any thick brush, debris, ditches, excess vegetation around fences, or low-lying branches, get rid of them. To obtain stronger covering options, rabbits will look elsewhere and, in turn, leave your beets safe from their invasion. -
Try placing dried blood (which will break down and provide nutrients to surrounding plants), dog, fox or coyote urine, or human hair around your fence. If rabbits smell any of these items, they might sense danger and scoot off. You can buy both dried blood -- a cattle beef processing byproduct that comes in powdered form -- and urine at outlets that sell hunting equipment; you also can buy blood at a garden store. For the hair, ask a local salon for "junk" hair that otherwise will end up in the trash. Apply any repellent late in the day, as rabbits do a lot of their feeding at night.
You also can try scaring rabbits away from your beet area. A motion-sensor sprinkler that activates upon approach could send rabbits scurrying away from your beets. A couple of "scary" animals also may deter them from staying too long; put some fake owls or snakes around your beet area. However, rabbits eventually will notice that the animals show no movement and might get brave enough to approach the garden area.
Look into getting a Nite Guard Solar flashing light, which could scare nocturnal animals into thinking that someone or something is watching them. Visit www.niteguard.com for more information. -
Protect your beets are by planting perimeters of items that rabbits generally do not like. Plant a double row of onions inside your fencing, close to the beets. Other items that they usually stray from include catnip, chives, corn, cucumbers, garlic, lavender, marigolds, peppers, potatoes, squash and tomatoes.
As an alternative, try offering rabbits a peace offering and plant other rabbit-friendly items in your garden. For instance, if you have patches of clover in or around your garden area, they likely will choose that over your beets. Other rabbit favorites include alfalfa, dandelions, goldenrod, long grass, wildflowers and wild strawberries.
