Rabbits

I'm just about to plant around 130 beech hedge plants and want to know how to protect them from rabbits. We have a few rabbits in the area so don't want the young hedge plants eaten before they have a chance to grow. However 130 is a large number to try and protect!

You can buy proper tree guards, not cheap but then neither were your trees. Ebay have some.

ok thanks. I'd been told that you can't tree guard beech hedge plants as they need to sprout from the stems. Do these tree guards not do that?

Some tree guards come in a spiral.  But, you have the choice - protect them or lose them.  Simple.

David Austin's website has a section about deterring rabbits from eating roses. This is what he says: "The best way to exclude rabbits is a rabbit proof fence around the rose garden using 36”/1m wide chicken fencing that has the bottom 6”/15cm bent outwards and is buried to prevent tunnelling. There are various sprays that claim to keep rabbits away but their effectiveness depends on regular applications and the rabbits may start getting used to the taste."

A fence of chicken wire, which would need to run along both sides of your young hedge, would not be expensive.

An alternative to a spray would be to water the stems of the hedge with a solution of chilli powder. Watering the ground with chilli powder solution is a recommended way of deterring rodents from digging up bulbs.

Thanks for your advice. Interesting option on the spray. I'll give it further thought.