45 Rabbit-Resistant Plants

What Are Rabbits?

Rabbits are small herbivorous mammals in the family Leporidae, recognized by their long ears, powerful hind legs, soft fur, and hopping gait. Wild rabbits occur across much of the world and feed mainly on grasses, herbs, tender shoots, vegetables, bark, and other plant material.

Rabbits reproduce quickly. Depending on the species and climate, females may produce several litters in a year after a gestation of roughly one month. Young rabbits, called kits, are born blind and nearly hairless but develop rapidly.

In natural ecosystems, rabbits are an important prey species for foxes, coyotes, hawks, owls, and other predators. In gardens, however, their appetite for tender vegetation can make them frustrating visitors.

What Attracts Rabbits to Your Garden?

Rabbits are most likely to visit gardens that offer a combination of food and protective cover. Common attractions include:

• Tender plants and vegetables: Young shoots, seedlings, flowers, leafy vegetables, and other succulent growth are especially vulnerable.
• Dense cover: Brush piles, tall weeds, dense shrubs, and vegetation close to the ground can provide places to hide, rest, or nest.
• Easy access: Openings under fences or unprotected beds make it easier for rabbits to reach desirable plants.
• Few disturbances: Quiet gardens with plenty of cover may feel safer than exposed areas where rabbits are easily seen by predators.
• Winter food: When herbaceous plants are scarce, rabbits may gnaw the bark, buds, and young stems of shrubs and trees.

Rabbit pressure varies greatly from one garden to another. A plant ignored one year may be eaten the next if rabbit numbers increase or alternative food becomes scarce.

Rabbit-Resistant Plants

Rabbits can cause considerable damage in vegetable gardens, borders, and young landscape plantings. They may clip tender stems and flowers during the growing season and gnaw bark or young woody shoots during winter.

Some plants are less appealing to rabbits because they have strongly aromatic foliage, prickles or spines, tough or leathery leaves, milky sap, or compounds that make them less palatable. However, no plant is completely rabbit-proof, and hungry rabbits may browse plants they normally avoid. 

The annuals, perennials, bulbs, grasses, shrubs, and other plants below are generally considered rabbit resistant and can be useful when designing a garden where rabbit damage is a recurring problem.