Four words - Red Rider BB Gun.
The bunnies devastated my dahlias two years ago and moved onto my roses.
If, like me, you can't shoot bunnies, start making pepper spray! Stock up on red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper and hot sauce at the dollar store. Pepper your garden with reckless abandon. Steep some "pepper tea" with boiling water or in a glass jar like solar tea and spray your plants once a week and after each rain. It is cheap and it works!
I am told that human pee works to deter groundhogs. A friend got rid of a groundhog that way. It may work for rabbits. I am not a pee outside kind of girl, but male family members may help you save your roses. Keep the fridge stocked with beer and/or iced tea to encourage their efforts.
Dog hair, cat hair and human hair are said to deter pests. Irish Spring soap also. I stick old fashioned moth balls anywhere rodents try to nest for the winter. I think it helps to keep them away. (I never use mothballs inside. I even store them in glass jars outside.)
Someone said that zinnias deter bunnies. While the bunnies were devouring my dahlias, they left my friend's zinnias untouched. I grew zinnias with the roses last year. I liked them so much that I will continue to grow them whether they help with the bunnies or not. The pepper spray/zinnia combo kept the bunnies away last year.
Winston the pug isn't much help with rodents but he keeps the garden safe from his arch enemies the neighbor's pomeranians.
