Free-range garden buns HELP in garden prep!

Hi all!:wave:

Indiana & Arrabella are growing up ( in kow i know - pics will come!) and my OH has suggested when we intrpoduce them outside - can we let them free-range!

Well - they indoor at the mo - free range most of the time....as they little mischiefs - so I have to watch them.....
Ive a run (6ft X 4ft x2ft(H) arriving soon - abit smalll....but its only for their intro into the garden and then we will build something big as we are building or buying a shed 9 long story ) anyway they havent been out side yet - so have a run for that for now!

What i wanted to ask is if we secure our property so the buns are saf ein the garden area.....what about plants?

I know there are lists & list of plants that they can & cant eat - but our garden has lots of plants and i dont know them all, some shrubs, vege patch,m bulbs etc....that i know they shouldnt eat.

Surely some instinct will tell them what to eat and what not to? Or will a sample put them off if they tried. I dont want to risk a sick bun! BUT want to give them as much freedom to run wild as they can.....

What do I do?
Let them explore once theyve been otside abit in their run?....I cant re-do the garden...too expensive as osme plants we actually bought & some plants just never die ! they keep coming back!:?

Soooooo...anyone out there with free range garden buns please please advise! many thanks!

I've been wondering this too. There are plants in my garden that came with the house and I have no idea what they are. How do other people manage? Do you fence of the parts with the plants?

I dunno.....but I think if i just made the boundary secure it would be alot easier and I dont htink my OH wants to put a mesh fence between the flower beds & the actual fence - will look odd and what a mission to do the gardeneing! lol!:roll::lol:

Im sure they would know what to eat & what not to eat like in the wild....but then they havent had threir mums to teach them.....saying that.....the not stupid so maybe a taster nibble and then they would leave it.....

I dunno - but Im wondering if Im gettin paranoid!:shock::?
Im told i worry too much about them....but their interests are what Im concerned about...

Hope all those owners with "Free-range Garden Buns" come to the rescue with lots of advice!!!!!

Anyone?

I wouldn't do it. You can stop a fox getting in to your garden or a stray dog, or any other number of animals that can hurt or kill your rabbits. It's definately best to build a big run that is totally secure. You can build your own or buy aviary panels to make them any side you want.

I let mine in the garden but i'm always with them. I sometimes pop in the house for something but only if my cats are in the garden. They chase off any other cats that might me lurking. Its sounds stupid but its true! There was a cat in the garden on Sunday morning and it was sitting right in front of my piggies hutch staring at them (not that they were bothered far too busy to care about stupid cats :roll My cats were on the windowsill watching and they normally tollerate this particular cat in the garden but it was too close to their piggies so when I opened the door they chased it out the garden :lol: Very protective

Mrs Ord said:

I let mine in the garden but i'm always with them. I sometimes pop in the house for something but only if my cats are in the garden. They chase off any other cats that might me lurking. Its sounds stupid but its true! There was a cat in the garden on Sunday morning and it was sitting right in front of my piggies hutch staring at them (not that they were bothered far too busy to care about stupid cats :roll My cats were on the windowsill watching and they normally tollerate this particular cat in the garden but it was too close to their piggies so when I opened the door they chased it out the garden :lol: Very protective

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Firstly - thanks Tim! Our garden is quite secure & Id be VERY VERY particular about any unsafe areas for them - theres concrete based walls on the sides - so they wouldnt be able to dig out & I would only allow them out when I was there or my OH......no stray dogs are near us....just cats mainly - which is annoying! I wouldnt leave them unattended.....but of course it may take some tim eto answer that phone or the door if i had to catch them first!:lol:

As quote above.....sounds like you dont mind about the uns having a nibble at any particular plants? Im aware that Ive got bulbs etc that are no good for the buns.....would instinct kick in?

Apart form the safety issue of them being out in the garden - any views on plants? :shock::?

thanks!

Honestly i'm not really that clued up about the plants. The only ones I know for sure are bulbs and my rabbits leave the daffs alone so I personally think there must be an instinct to it.

there are only 2 plants i know that my bunnies cant eat adn thankfully they dont seem to touch them (within the confine sof my garden) however leaves can and will blow in there isnt a lot you can do. i let mine free range adn dont worry to much i perosnally removed al lthe plants i could see when we moved in jsut for them but you could try fencing off areas? x

Mrs Ord said:

Honestly i'm not really that clued up about the plants. The only ones I know for sure are bulbs and my rabbits leave the daffs alone so I personally think there must be an instinct to it.

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Hopefully mine will be as clever as yours! Im sure they woud have a natural instinct!:shock:

bunlover said:

there are only 2 plants i know that my bunnies cant eat adn thankfully they dont seem to touch them (within the confine sof my garden) however leaves can and will blow in there isnt a lot you can do. i let mine free range adn dont worry to much i perosnally removed al lthe plants i could see when we moved in jsut for them but you could try fencing off areas? x

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Hi:wave:

Which 2 plants are these?

Yeah - we have a tree with som eleaves etc.....I dunno - one part of me is abit nervouse as you can monitor what they will be chewing or eating on constantly - the other part of me is - well I cant mnitor that really anyway if they in a run.....like with weeds etc (obviousyl plants you can!)

Ive got a run for them for now - but would be nice to be bale to extend their area after a while......so they can binky high & run mad!

What about birds of prey?:shock:
Like - perragon? oops:spelling!)

My main concern is plants at the mo...as I would scare any predators off...like birds & the cats wont come in our garden if we are out there....

xxxx

:wave: As my buns have supervised free range time in the garden, I've dug up any bulbs (including my sentimentally precious bluebells) as I don't trust them to be sensible about what to nibble... it seems anything is fair game.

My bun free ranges but I don't ny "plants" in the garden. I have LOADS of weeds though and I don't know what they are but bun seems to know what to eat - put it this way - he's 2 and a half and always had free range - not been ill yet! I am never far away though - always put him back in the aviary run if I go out etc.

I've totally given up trying to put my buns in a run, 1 is a cheeky little lady and jumps out less than 5 mins after being in, even if I'm standing right there watching her :shock:, so now they free-range the entire garden, but I didn't have much choice in the matter :roll:.

They get a couple of hours a day, and I don't stay out there with them the entire time, although I'd never leave the house with them out and about. However, we've got dogs, so although there are a few cats in my street, they've long since given up coming round to steal my cats biscuits! We do have robins, but I feel they are of little threat to the buns!

With regard to plants, I have little idea of what they're all called... but I did get rid of all the Deadly Nightshade (pretty little purple ones) weeds growing in various spots around the plant beds... We also get mushrooms on the lawn sometimes, which I also get rid of, and if I had any foxglove (pretty bell-shapped ones) I'd get rid of that too, cos that and Deadly Nightshade are bad for all animals, I believe.

xxx

If you're concerned about your plants, I would honestly give up on the idea of free ranging and instead work out how to get the biggest run possible that they can enjoy safely - even if it's surrounding your borders with pen panels and stopping them from jumping over. At our old house my buns used to free range when I was home and I can assure you that they will absolutely destroy every plant you have.

Even if they don't eat them (which they will), they will peel the bark off the bases of plants and that will kill them, or they will simply snip them off at the base. One time I thought my beautiful passion flower which grew across the entire back fence, was looking a bit withered. On investigation I discovered that every stem had been snipped off by a pair of bunny teeth!

I tried buying huge pots and putting plants in those for colour, but the bunnies soon mastered vertical take-off and landing into those pots. In the end I gave up and let them destroy the place!

I agree with the above post. My rabbits have experienced the great out doors and little Violet has worked out how to open the doors on her run and then lets the others out!! They love running around the garden and I would love to let them free range all the time but they are demolishing the garden and I LOVE gardening. Dilemmas!! Today the hellebores had their flowers bitten off but not eaten and the scabious. They've chewed through honeysuckle, dug up plants and the lawn. Really dont know what to do. Seems a shame to put them back on the patio in their run....

My rabbits are always free range - we bunny-proofed the whole garden, the dog sees off any ne'er do wells who drop in (the cat does this also which is quite sweet). Put all my plants in very tall planters or hanging baskets - works a treat.

If you have very well established shrubs surround with plastic (dug into the ground) but tall enough round the stem to stop the rascals chewing on them) not beautiful but it works.

Good luck

luvabun said:

:wave: As my buns have supervised free range time in the garden, I've dug up any bulbs (including my sentimentally precious bluebells) as I don't trust them to be sensible about what to nibble... it seems anything is fair game.

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aaah Ive got loads of bulbs......gonna do some digging I think!:roll:

:lol::lol::lol:
Wow - thanks all! Just have pics of bunnies ravishing the gardens - stripping back plants - jumping off hanging baskets, over runs & letting all the other buns out!:lol::lol::lol:

Maaaaaybe its best to just let them have the run until Ive made it all abit safer plant wise & they dont chew off my OH favourite bamboo tree! :roll::lol::lol::lol: