Baking Soda in the Garden
When you discover signs of a pest in your garden, you may be tempted to try some quick fixes that you find online. However, not all suggestions are effective. For example, using baking soda to repel rabbits has no scientific evidence supporting its effectiveness.
If you're unsure about the type of critter causing damage in your garden, look for small round droppings near the affected plants. This is a clear sign that rabbits are the culprits. They have a preference for eating the tender leaves of plants like hostas and have a neat eating habit, leaving the damaged plants neatly clipped.
Effective ways to repel rabbits naturally
There is a popular belief that placing a circle of baking soda around your affected plants will discourage rabbits from eating them. While baking soda is indeed toxic to rabbits, there is no evidence to suggest that they would consume it. It is possible that they may be deterred by the smell, but if there is a tempting feast on the other side of that thin white line, it is unlikely to send them running away.
However, the real concern about using baking soda in your garden lies in its effect on your soil. Baking soda contains sodium bicarbonate, and if you use enough to repel rabbits from your entire garden, you will require a significant amount of baking soda. This large quantity could be detrimental to the very plants you are trying to protect. Excess salt in the soil can kill vegetation, as well as the beneficial fungi, bacteria, and insects that are necessary for nutrient availability. Essentially, baking soda has the potential to kill the entire soil environment, and once the salt is in the ground, it will take a long time to flush out.
Moreover, garden plants thrive in soil that is neutral to slightly acidic on the pH scale. Baking soda, being alkaline, will lower the acidity level if added in large amounts to your soil. This can cause more harm to your garden than a few rabbits ever could.
Even though the baking soda myth has been debunked, there are plenty of other safe ways to protect your garden from rabbits without resorting to lethal measures. The safest, simplest, and most effective method to keep bunnies from munching on your plants is a physical barrier. Chicken wire is effective as a fence or a plant cage to keep hungry rabbits out.
Human hair sprinkled around the garden is another effective solution. When rabbits smell the presence of a natural predator, they will not risk getting too close. Maybe it's awkward, but you can ask your hairstylist for some hair; just be sure that they understand it's for your garden –- otherwise, the conversation could get uncomfortable. Other unpleasant scents or tastes can keep rabbits from visiting your space. Red pepper flakes scattered around your garden plants make the area unappealing. You can also make your own hot pepper spray to apply to the leaves or blossoms of the plants on which you are seeing the most damage. One spicy bite should send those rabbits running to someone else's garden.
