Garden Spot - The Bunny Dilemma - October 2004

The Village Garden Staff has been diligent in its regimen to discourage deer from dining on Village garden material. While flower buds and leaves on the upper portions of rose bushes remained intact, suddenly lower foliage began to disappear, and plants which had never been touched before, like Salvia, were beginning to disappear. Many residents reported the same attack on their gardens. Were the deer "stooping to new lows"? Had the deer suddenly changed their eating habits? When Binnicula-like creatures were spotted in the gardens, the staff realized that they were facing a new and even more damaging foe-RABBITS. While these adorable creatures have always been a part of our creature culture and have always done some damage to garden plantings, Lincolnshire is suddenly faced with a problem which Chicago's urban gardeners have been dealing with for a long time. Our gardens have become bunny buffets! The rabbits eat everything, and they eat all of everything! At least the deer are considerate and leave some parts of the plant behind.

The garden staff has approached the problem by spraying all plants weekly. The entire plant is sprayed from all angles, until the leaves and stems are soaked. The products used are Deer Off and Liquid Fence, which are alternated weekly to keep the bunnies guessing.

If anyone has an additional solution to the bunny dilemma, please contact the Village Garden Staff at (847) 883-8600. We will gladly share it with other Village residents.