Have you been spotting suspicious disturbance in your garden, and you feel it is caused by rabbits? If you want to know how to keep rabbits out of your garden with ivory soap, then you’re in the right place.
Keeping rabbits out of your garden with ivory soap is the cheapest and easiest method. Rabbits don’t like the smell of ivory soap and are repelled by it. The fatty acids found in ivory soap are too much for rabbits to handle. Hence, it helps keep unwanted rabbits away.
In this article, you’ll get to know all about how to keep rabbits out of your garden with ivory soap, the science behind it, the benefits, and possible alternatives to ivory soap. Continue reading to know more.
No more rabbits in your garden
You’ve spent days and weeks preparing your hand, planting, and designing your garden. After all this hard work, you find out that something or someone has destroyed all your hard work. After careful consideration, you find out that the perpetrator was a little rabbit with the cutest eyes and nose. To your dismay, that cuteness will not bring back your hours of effort and hard work. So what do you do with the rabbits?
Rabbits can often be your biggest enemies if you have a beautiful garden and a lush yard. These little creatures eat plants, and vegetables, and come unwanted to cause extensive damage. Getting rid of these gorgeous creatures isn’t easy. Unless you dig deep into your pockets and get expensive tools or go for costly techniques. However, you’ll be surprised to know that there are a few straightforward and inexpensive ways as well. One of them is by making use of Ivory soap. This method works with the principle that it produces an odor that rabbits don’t like and get repelled by.
Ivory soap can be helpful when you’re dealing with stubborn rabbits who won’t stop coming to your garden. A typical ivory soap is made using ingredients like sodium tallowate, sodium chloride, sodium cocoate, fragrance, magnesium sulfate, and water. Using an ivory soap will be highly economical, and the product will be easy on animals, humans, and plants. It’ll be perfect for repelling cute rabbits away from your beautiful garden without causing any damage to the rabbits.
Besides using ivory soap as a rabbit repellent, you should make your yard less inviting. You can do that by clearing out tall grass that rabbits often use as their natural cover from predators. By putting a barrier fence around your garden, you can keep these little creatures away as well.
How to identify if your garden is being attacked by rabbits?
Rabbits tend to get into your garden at night and hide in closely planted vegetation. Most of the time, you won’t be able to spot a rabbit running around your yard. However, there are some ways you can be alert that rabbits are causing damage to your plants.
- Rabbit pellets – Rabbits will naturally leave fecal material around your garden. They do that in the form of pellets in your garden. These pellets will be round and indicate the presence of rabbits.
- Fur – There are many different breeds of rabbits. Some of them are white while some are black. Most rabbits have fur that falls off their bodies. If you find rabbit fur in your garden, it is an obvious indication that there are hidden rabbits.
- Damaged plants – Rabbits love eating vegetables, grass, and young trees. They also love eating tender plants. Some of their favorite plants include spinach, carrots, and beets. If you notice your plants are damaged and eaten, it might be because of these cute little creatures.
- Damaged garden equipment – Apart from feeding on plants and grass, rabbits also sometimes chew different garden equipment. Some of their targets include hoses and irrigation systems. If your garden equipment is damaged, you should be alert that it might be due to rabbits.
How will ivory soap keep naughty rabbits away?
Ivory soap is a fairly popular brand of hand soap and body wash. William Procter discovered it in 1879 after combining whale oil with olive oil for creating a cleansing agent. It was created and be used for both skin and oil.
Rabbits cannot handle the taste or smell of ivory soap, as it contains tallowate salts. This is very similar to what is found in animal fat like beef tallow. It makes the rabbits think that they’ll get sick if they eat any plants or vegetables covered in ivory soap. This is a cheap and easy way to keep rabbits away.
The fatty acids in the ivory soap can be too much for rabbits to handle. In fact, some humans also cannot handle it if they’re allergic or sensitive to it. These oils don’t mix readily with water. Despite the rare drawback, there has been no scientific evidence that shows it isn’t effective when it comes to keeping rabbits out of your garden.
The active ingredients in the Ivory soap could cause skin irritation for animals if they’re ingested or go into the eyes. This is another way of telling the rabbits that they should stay away from the garden.
How to use Ivory soap and keep rabbits out of your garden?
- Simply dig a deep trench around your plants or garden. Place around 1-inch of ivory soap at the bottom of the trench. You can easily cover it with soil or dirt. This way, no animals can reach for it by accident. Keep repeating it every few weeks such that new soap doesn’t become exposed and encourages more rabbits to try and dig into your flowerbeds.
- You can also use a spray bottle for applying ivory soap mixture to your beautiful plants. It will be helpful for those plants too that have been on the receiving end of damage from rabbits. The soap keeps them away from the remaining part of your garden. Moreover, it is also an effective way of getting rid of aphids and other bugs.
- You can even use an automatic sprinkler system for gardens that have a heavy infestation of rabbits. A motion sensor would trigger a powerful blast of ivory soap water whenever it detects the presence of rabbits. This is most effective if you live in areas with enough rainfall or irrigation available most months of the year. It would be completely worth it if you know how well it works.
Benefits of using ivory soap to keep rabbits away
Rabbits are a common problem for gardeners. Rabbits love eating flowers, plants, grass, and vegetables. The solution to keeping rabbits away is by using ivory soap bars. You can keep them away from your garden by sprinkling ivory soap on the ground or around your plants. There are many benefits to this method, some of them include –
- Ivory soap bars are very inexpensive. A typical bar of ivory soap will sell for less than $0.50 at local stores. You can even purchase them in bulk online and this will bring the price further down.
- The simple ingredients used will mean that there isn’t a lot of risk to your health or your plants. They are safe to be used around your garden plants and food crops.
- The soap gets manufactured from natural ingredients. This means that it won’t poison the soil or the plants. Moreover, it won’t kill any beneficial insects residing in your garden.
- Ivory soap is amazing as it helps in getting rid of any dirt or grime. This means that the plants or vegetables in your garden will be cleaner than before.
The best way of keeping stubborn rabbits away from your garden would be by using this simple, old-fashioned trick. Ivory soap has a special scent that rabbits do not like. All you need to do is put ivory soap in some of the areas of the garden. You can either choose the places at random or put them where you feel they’re most likely to pop up. You can even spread it around the garden or hang it in small places on plants near the garden’s edges.
Alternative methods to keep rabbits away
- Chili powder – You can sprinkle a bit of chili powder around the plants and garden. It’ll work well to keep the rabbits away. Rabbits cannot stand the smell of chili powder and will stay away from the garden.
- Cayenne Pepper – Cayenne pepper is an excellent homemade repellent for keeping rabbits away from your garden. You can crush some pieces of cayenne pepper and then add water. Moreover, you can add olive oil to this mixture and then put it into a neat spray bottle. After that, you can spray the mixture on the vegetables, plants, and other parts of your garden.
The plants and vegetables won’t be harmed by the pepper. However, if you’re picking the fruits or vegetables, remember to wash them thoroughly. Washing them will help you get rid of the pepper smell and taste. Moreover, use gloves when you’re preparing and spraying the plants. You wouldn’t want the pepper to come in contact with your hands. - Erect a fence – You don’t have to erect an exceedingly high fence if you want to keep rabbits away from your garden. The fence will not only prevent rabbits, but it’ll also keep all animals from getting into your garden. You can use a metal mesh for fencing your garden, as rabbits might chew on fences made using other materials.
- Plant lavender – Rabbits hate the strong scent of lavender, and it avoids rabbits from entering your garden. Lavender can grow even in infertile soil, and it doesn’t need any special maintenance practices, too. Lavender is a perennial and lives for years to come. However, you still need to provide it with ideal growing conditions.
You can buy lavender seeds from a reliable dealer near you. It won’t need a lot of water for growing. Apart from keeping rabbits away, lavender also makes your garden look beautiful. - Parsley – You can grow parsley along the boundaries of your garden, and it’ll help keep rabbits away. You can plant it in pots or directly into the soil. Parsley is also an important herb, and it’ll add flavor to different dishes like meat or salads. It is hardy and repels other pests like mosquitos and unwanted insects. You need to grow it in well-drained soils and remember to water it once a week when it’s fully matured.
- Bougainvillea – Bougainvillea is another gorgeous plant that rabbits despise and avoid wherever it is growing. It is an ornamental flower that makes any space it is growing in look beautiful and magnificent. This flower grows well in sunny areas and will not tolerate shade. It comes in many different colors such as white, purple, pink, and red.
You can either grow it in pots or directly into the ground. When you’re growing it in pots, you should use potting soil and make sure to add peat moss. If you’re growing it directly in your garden, make sure that the soil is well-draining. If the soil has a low pH, add limestone for lowering the acidity, as it negatively impacts the plant. Bougainvillea thrives with minimal watering and will not need frequent watering.
Conclusion
Thank you for reading. Hopefully, now you know a lot more about how to keep rabbits out of your garden with ivory soap, the benefits of this method, how it works, and a lot more. Rabbits dislike the taste and smell of ivory soap, making it the cheapest and most-effective way of keeping rabbits away.