Bunny Paradise

We have two large gray pet rabbits. They’re indoors most of the time, but they like to go outside too. Mostly what they seem to enjoy doing outside is eating grass and lounging under a shady shrub or tree.

At our previous place, we’d let them run around in the backyard because it was fully fenced and mostly grass. At our new house, we had trouble figuring out an outdoor space for them. They couldn’t just go in the backyard because they could easily climb under the aging fence or between some of the dilapidated boards. Also, rabbits will eat almost anything that’s a plant, and I didn’t want them freely chewing the established perennials and shrubs in our backyard.

We finally decided on a spot that would become the dedicated bunny area. It was a raspberry patch when we arrived. Although I love eating raspberries, I didn’t want them in my garden because they run everywhere and little raspberry plants were popping up all over the backyard.

At the end of May, I started digging up the raspberry canes. The wasps and bees didn’t like it one bit and soon they were buzzing around me angrily. So rather than digging up the roots, I cut the canes (I would get the roots later), thinking the buzzy critters would be less annoyed. I was stung anyway!

I stopped removing the raspberries en masse and instead took a piecemeal approach. While doing other garden chores, I’d check the area for wasps when I passed by. If I didn’t see any, which wasn’t often, I’d gingerly cut a cane or two. I hoped for rainy days when the wasps stayed away. The rain gods responded and eventually, there were no more raspberry canes.

What remained were random raspberry stumps dotting a lumpy, somewhat weedy patch of barren earth. There was an old car wheel rim (including hub cap) that looked like it was used as a planter. There was a mound of semi-decomposed compost. And there were little bits of old plastic—candy and other food wrappers, tomato plant tags, and ratty shreds of plastic bags. I cleaned it up, but it was still an eyesore.

We put a couple of x-pens around the space and fixed up the bottom of the fence and then let the bunnies loose. They liked digging in the soft earth and lying on it too. They nibbled on the raspberry remnants, which surprised me because they’re thorny—perhaps I should have left the canes intact and let the rabbits go to town)! But seeing the bunnies in this backyard wasteland didn’t make us happy. I was determined to make a better place for them, but I wasn’t sure what to do, especially because the rabbits eat everything. I also didn’t want create something too permanent because the garden might change when we renovate the house.

Last week, I couldn’t bear looking at this pathetic area any longer. I had to do something. I started digging out the raspberry stumps, which took a couple of days. The first day, I hit something very hard. A few minutes later, I unearthed a patterned concrete block used in the front yard walls! Next, I hauled out the pickaxe and chopped away at the copious roots. There plenty of other roots tangled in, including bindweed. Finally the earth was workable and level.

I bought some plants—mostly herbs, a few annuals, and some grasses—at an end-of-season sale at Home Depot and at Superstore. I knew that I couldn’t get attached to any of these plants because the rabbits would probably devour them. I selected things rabbits like, such as several varieties of mint, and some things they reputedly don’t like (for example, black mondo grass). I decided to move a couple of large clumps of lady’s mantle and cranesbill geraniums from another overcrowded section of the back garden. If the rabbits ate them (interestingly, I read that rabbits don’t like lady’s mantle, but ours had eaten some previously), I wouldn’t be crushed. In fact, the lady’s mantle was becoming invasive, so I could always move more.

I wanted to give the space structure, but instead of starting with a design plan, I started with observation. I noticed the bunnies’ wicker “house,” which serves dual purpose as their sun parasol and rain umbrella, was sitting in one corner. Establishing this as their shelter spot was a good place to start. I also wanted to move the paving stones already in the space to create a new path from the x-pen door inwards, but I wasn’t sure where this path would lead. Then it dawned on me—the path needed to go to the wicker house! This path would divide the site into a nice pie-shaped plot for the plants I bought, and the lady’s mantle and geraniums would go on the other side of the path beside the fence. I also wanted to put some edible plants close to the wicker house, so I decided to relocate a significant carpet of what could be lemon thyme (or another lemony herb) from a neglected back corner at the property’s end.

I’d never moved perennials before and perhaps it was the wrong time of year to do it, so I wasn’t sure how this would turn out. Getting all the roots seemed to be the key. The first clump was difficult to remove because it was right against an azalea and rhododendron. I lifted a 1’ x 1’ chunk successfully, but didn’t get the whole clump, so I dug the rest out in pieces. Unfortunately, looked a bit sad after the transplant.

Removing the second clump was a lot smoother. Using my garden fork, I carefully dug around and under the clump, loosening it from the earth. When I lifted the mass, I was surprised to find that I’d freed the entire clump. It was over 2’ x 1’ in size and, with a bit of muscle, I picked it up and carried it to the bunny area. After this, removing the smaller, low-growing lemon thyme carpet was a piece of cake. I divided the carpet in two, putting each piece either side of the wicker house.

I placed two pots of mint by the wicker house entrance and filled an old strawberry pot left in the yard with chocolate and ginger mint. I even found a way to incorporate the chunk of concrete wall I unearthed as a design feature. Next I planted the grasses, herbs, and annuals in the pie-shaped area. I couldn’t stop smiling because this petite garden was shaping up really well. What earlier in the week was barren and neglected had become “bunny paradise.

The next day, I put the finishing touches on bunny paradise—I added a few more herbs, set some small paving stones along the x-pen to keep it in place, and spread bark mulch around the new plants.

Finally bunny paradise was ready for the rabbits. I knew they would mow down some if not all of the plants, and I was curious to find out which ones they liked best.

As it turned out they loved the golden Hakone grass, and they took two of the pretty light-pink fragrant stocks right down to the ground. Much of the mint was trimmed as was the fennel, and they did nibble the lady’s mantle. To my surprise, they didn’t touch the purple wave petunias. Ironically, they also spent considerable time lying around in the dirt next to bunny paradise (this still-to-be-developed patch will become bunny paradise “phase two”)!

Building bunny paradise was a learning experience for me. I wanted to build something attractive that was fun and playful. It was an opportunity to be creative—to make something out of nothing, incorporate existing plants, and reuse “found” materials. Normally, after completing a project like this, I would want to admire my work and watch it grow and prosper. But, I knew this project wasn’t going to be like that and I built it anyway. The bunnies attacked the plants, but I don’t see it as paradise lost. It was paradise found for the bunnies.