lawn bunny

by Jeanne Timpson
(Dartmouth, Massachusetts)

Two years ago I created a giant bunny on my front lawn. It’s 20 feet long & 8′ 4″ to the tip of the tallest ear.

The base consists of several large & also small cages filled w/ large (& small) rocks. We figure it weighs around 15,000 pounds, perhaps more. I then covered the whole thing w/ bunny poo, then I covered it w/ wire to round out the corners of the cages & give shape to it.

Then I covered it w/ a lovely mousse-like muck of dirt & bunny poo (which I had (& have) in abundance). Then I covered the bunny-to-be w/ Kentucky Blue grass seed. The grass grew in pretty well, but I hadn’t realized that I would have to trim the damn thing every week, BY HAND, & that it would take a whole weekend to do so. Tried trimming it w/ various hand tools & also a hedge trimmer, but ultimately my little hand held lawn shears did the best job.

So, then I decided to cover it w/ moss, but there was some question as to it’s hardiness, especially if it were forced to endure the kind of winter we suffered through here in New England last winter.

So, then it was suggested to me that thyme might work well on it. I am now in the process of covering it w/ wooly thyme, which will hopefully lend a “furry” quality to it. For a little contrast (perhaps too little, I fear) I will be “planting” elfin thyme on the “inner” side of the ears. I expect I will be down on my knees nightly praying to the thyme to grow, as it has very little soil depth to work w/ .

On the bright side, I’ve mixed a goodly amount of aged bunny poo in w/ the dirt, so I’m hoping this will give it incentive to grow! I’ll attach a pic of the bunny, but it’s from the first year when it was covered w/ the Kentucky Blue grass. If you have any pearls of wisdom to share they will be most gratefully appreciated.

Comments for lawn bunny

Nov 08, 2021 How is Bunny doing now? by: Susan in Portugal That bunny is simply amazing! How is he doing now? How did the thyme do? Can you give us an update and a photo please?thanks!

Mar 27, 2020 Big as a horse by: Alice I think you should put a saddle on it so the kids can ride it.

Jun 04, 2015 What a hoot! by: Jacki I love it! Sometimes a project has to go through all kinds of incarnations before you finally hit on the exact right thing. The grass was a good idea, but lots of maintenance. If you had more shade (this looks to be in full sun) the moss would have grown naturally in time, once the spores started happening. Thyme doesn’t need deep soil, so this is actually your best choice, but again it will take a while to get full coverage. Don’t give up yet. My only concern would be the high nutrition that would be in the bunny poo, but you’ll see. If the drainage is good (and it should be) then that will leach out in a year or two, by which time the thyme should be getting established. I hope you’ll share some more pictures as it gets going, and congratulations on a successful project!