How to Grow a Bunny Garden in 9 Simple Steps
If you have a pet bunny, creating a garden with their preferred foods in mind is a fun and valuable endeavor. It offers them enrichment while providing favorite crops for their humans, too. From simple container setups to interactive sites, bunny gardens offer a rewarding space for all involved.
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While bunnies are cute no matter what, they’re not always who we want in the garden as they nibble precious crops. But a garden tailored to our domestic friends serves up fresh herbs and vegetables for the taking. If you have a pet rabbit and want to add enrichment, a bunny garden may be almost as cute as the long-eared hoppers themselves.
Bunny gardens are popping up in backyards, barnyards, and animal centers. What is a bunny garden? They’re special garden spaces designed for rabbits to explore and forage or for people to harvest fresh crops for them. Fortunately, rabbits prefer many of the leafy greens, herbs, and flowers that we do. Sow extra for all to enjoy!
Bunny gardens make it possible to grow much of their food, organic and packed with nutrition. The gardens can also be interactive natural spaces for bunnies and a great way to involve the family in their care and gardening.
Starting a Bunny Garden
To begin designing the bunny garden concept, consider your garden goals. There are a few directions bunny gardens usually take, and the creativity within each is limitless:
- Growing fresh food to harvest and feed to domestic rabbits
- Planting crops in a designated space for them to feed and forage
- Creating a bunny playground that includes food crops
The direction for your rabbits may depend on the amount of space allotted. A bunny garden can be as simple as a few containers to grow their favorites. A raised bed that employs square-foot gardening is ideal for producing a bunch of usable selections in small spaces. The bunny garden can also be a more elaborate focal point, or maybe it’s an area adjacent to a hutch that becomes their pretty little “yard.”
Rabbits will eat what’s available to them and their preferred palette. They especially like tender, new shoots. This means that in roaming situations, they’ll consume what’s planted before it matures. To have a ready supply, sow successional rounds or stick with a bunny-free raised bed or container area for crops to develop fully.
Safety
We know safety for the animals, kids, and all involved is the first priority. We’ll break down the basic elements in sections that follow, whether you go all in on a space for bunnies to roam or a spot solely for growing their food.
In starting a bunny garden, it’s important to consider the quantities of fresh food consumed. With hay and other grasses as their staple diet, vegetables like carrots and leafy greens become treats, best in moderation.
Some leafy greens are high in calcium, which can build up in their systems over time. Carrots, which are high in sugar, are a yummy occasional treat. Eating lots of lettuce can cause digestive upset. So, the key is to serve a balanced diet of nutritious selections. Observe and limit their time if they’re roaming “wild” in the garden.
At the very basic level, make sure there are no sharp edges or exposed nails or screws in the setup, even below the soil level. If using wooden raised beds, stick with untreated lumber so chemicals don’t leach into soils. Rely on food-safe materials and sealants, and use organic soils and pest and fertilizer applications, if any.
Favorite Plants for Rabbits
Rabbits have good taste in plants. While they often steer clear of aromatic foliage, fuzzy textures, and spiny selections, there’s a wide array of nutrient-dense plants they favor. These include herbs, vegetables, and flowers – plant a mixture of annuals and perennials for a well-rounded recipe.
Research the plants to ensure they’re nontoxic, and supervise any that are best in small quantities. Check with your veterinarian to confirm any selections and amounts.
Edible Plants for Rabbits Include:
- Basil
- Barley
- Beans
- Bok choy
- Buckwheat
- Broccoli florets and greens
- Calendula
- Carrot greens and roots
- Cauliflower greens and roots
- Cilantro
- Dandelions (keep these in a low pot to avoid spreading)
- Lettuces
- Mint (Mentha spp.)
- Nasturtium
- Oats
- Oregano
- Pansies, violas, and violets
- Parsley
- Radish greens and roots
- Rose leaves and flowers
- Sunflowers
- Turfgrass
- Yarrow
Siting
All of the plants on our list of rabbit favorites prefer full sun (six or more hours daily), though many also tolerate partial shade (four or more hours). In hot climates, they appreciate afternoon shade protection during the most intense hours of direct exposure.
Observe your site to gauge how light moves through the space. Select crops accordingly, relying on those for more shade in areas with less than full sun.
Most crops for bunnies also need organically rich, well-draining soils to thrive. An organic formula tailored to containers and raised beds works well in those situations for aeration, nutrition, moisture retention, and good drainage. Topdress the garden plot with compost to enrich native soils, especially poorer compositions like clay and sand.
If you’re embarking on a bunny playground or yard, add topography through mounds for play and exercise. Curve a little pathway for their meandering and element of surprise. Low platforms like tree cookies are fun perching zones.
Enclosure
Enclosing the space takes us back to safety. This is a concern for spaces where rabbits will roam for a bit. Make sure to create a pen around the garden to keep them contained, using fencing like wire or mesh. Consider predators (cats, raccoons, birds of prey) and weigh creating a full enclosure with a top. Be present when the bunnies are grazing.
If you’re growing their food in a rabbit-free zone, the only containment you’ll need is if outside animals come to nibble (wild rabbits, deer, raccoons, etc.). Place containers and raised beds near the house or active areas, or install fencing or screening, depending on the scale.
Shade Protection
We talked about afternoon shade protection for plants, and the animals will appreciate it, too. In the bunny garden playground, provide shelter and hiding nooks for shade and exploration. A hollow log, shady corner, or other respite area offers cooling shade and enrichment.
Water
Provide regular moisture to the crops throughout the growing season. In most cases, soil should be evenly moist but not soggy. Containers dry out more quickly than in-ground plantings and need frequent watering during the summer and in dry spells. Place raised or in-ground beds near a clean water source for easy access, or install irrigation.
For rabbits hopping about the site, offer fresh, clean drinking water each time they’re in the garden.
Fertilizer
An auxiliary benefit of pet rabbits is that they’re a natural source of organic fertilizer. With their pellets nearby, soil nutrition is at the ready. Droppings offer a low-grade source of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium, essential for healthy plants. They contain higher amounts of phosphorous, which promotes blooming and fruiting.
Rabbit pellets are a “cold” manure, meaning they don’t have to age or compost before use. Distribute it as a topdress over planting beds and turf, or dig it in at planting. The droppings break down slowly for a time-release action. If you’re hesitant about adding the manure directly to the edible garden, toss it in the compost pile first to decompose as an added nitrogen source.
Avoid inorganic fertilizers in the bunny garden, as they can negatively impact their health. If necessary, use only food-safe organics (fish emulsion, kelp, alfalfa, and veggie formulas are good options).
Maintenance
Regular maintenance comes with the bunny garden, especially weeding. Keeping beds weed-free reduces competition for moisture, nutrients, and sunlight, as well as pests and diseases.
Successional sowings yield extended harvests throughout the season. Leafy greens like lettuce and bok choy grow quickly from seed. Sow multiple rounds for continual picking. Clip the outer leaves for feeding while allowing the interior to continue developing. Cool-season veggies like greens, carrots, radishes, and broccoli do well in spring and fall and fade in hot summer climates. Plant warm-season crops as their replacements. Remember that bunnies will devour what’s in their path.
A layer of compost or mulch helps insulate crops in pots, raised beds, and garden plots. Mulch helps regulate soil temperature in cool and warm conditions, improves moisture retention, and suppresses weeds. Leaf mulch, aged wood chips, and clean straw (even hay) make good mulch materials.
