lucie Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Hi I am new to the forum, I have two chickens, Hetty, a , and Flo, a , they live in a . They are 2 1/2 years old. They have free range of the garden. The garden is very low maintenance, we have one long flower bed ...and the girls have destroyed everything in it! I don't want to get rid of the flower bed because the girls love it, but don't want to spend money on things that don't last more than a week. Does anyone know of any chicken proof plants? shubs? or small bushes? Is there such a thing? Thanks, any help greatly appreciated. Lucie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluckingmad Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 So far my beautiful little madams has molested every plany they can get their beaks at However.... it is possible to have a nice garden AND keep the chooks we've built 4ft high netting fences/chicken wire fences around our veggie/flower beds so the girls can FR and we can still have a garden. At the end of the season I let the girls into the veggie patch where they make short work of any grubs in the soil that could cause issues next season AND they very kindly remove the remains of any pea/bean plants still in the ground! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluckingmad Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 ps welcome to the forum and to chooks in general Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Lavender & Rosemary,plus other woody strong smelling herbs such as Curry plant are good - they tend to leave those alone, BUT they will still dig around under them & destroy any planting that way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucie Posted May 11, 2010 Author Share Posted May 11, 2010 Thanks, I thought that might be the case! I have thought about netting off the flower bed but they love it so much I can't bring myself to. Other than the flower bed, it's just cobbles, gravel and woodchip. I have an allotment so grow everything I want over there and let the chickens have run of the garden. I have first hand experience of the spoiling by digging around and under, I had a lovely (and expensive!) row of box that they destroyed by doing that. Perhaps I could plant in pots? Leaving enough room for growth, and plant the pots under the soil. That way I would have more control and roots would be protected? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Yes,but don't buy anything they will eat! Which is just about everything,apart from the ones I have mentioned above Bay is a safe one too - mine ignore it totally. Thyme may be worth a try too,plus pretty things like house leeks & sedums. You might also want to give the tops of the pots a covering of pebbles,to discourage them going after the soil there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucie Posted May 11, 2010 Author Share Posted May 11, 2010 Thanks, that's great, will look up your suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluckingmad Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Just a thought, but where abouts in the country are you? Rhododendrons tend to be left alone too, now I think about it, and I've got a couple you're welcome to have if you're close enough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Sorry, but mine love Curry plant, and the Lavender..well, lavender loves to sit on it so its rather flat at the moment. NO plants are safe, but for some reason we all dont seem to mind after a while.!! Net every thing that you dont want them to trash and limit the time they are allowed out, its the only way. I know as have had to re turf and re design the whole garden this year. Still love them though, just wont bother to enter bexley in Bloom this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucie Posted May 11, 2010 Author Share Posted May 11, 2010 I am on the South Coast cluckingmad, but thank you very much for the offer! Very kind I think I might try lavender in pots planted below the soil. The problem is I need something in there or I will have to get rid of it completely, and I don't want to do that because of how much the girls enjoy having it. Maybe I will post a pic of the garden so you can see what I mean! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chook n Boo Mum Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Ooo a pic......yes please .....with the girls too of course Sha x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squidsin Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 What kind of birds have you got Lucie? My pekins do their damndest but they haven't done too much damage to my borders, apart from polishing off a couple of young tomatoes seedlings. They do however peck at anything and everything, including ivy, hydrangea and lupins, which are all on the list of plants chickens shouldn't eat. They seem fine though. I've given up worrying about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucie Posted May 11, 2010 Author Share Posted May 11, 2010 I have got a Ginger Nut Ranger and a Miss Pepperpot. I think part of the problem is that it is a new build house so we have had to start from scratch, so no well established mature borders. I used to have a lovely row of box hedge, alternating pyramid and ball, but out of the 10 or 11 planted only 2 survived... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squidsin Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 What a shame! Oh well. Mine definitely ignore my azalea - just as well as it's my pride and joy - someone else mentioned rhodendrons as well so maybe they don't like the ericaceous soil plants! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chook n Boo Mum Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 What a shame! Oh well. Mine definitely ignore my azalea - just as well as it's my pride and joy - someone else mentioned rhodendrons as well so maybe they don't like the ericaceous soil plants! Not necessarily, blueberries are planted in eric-wotsit compost & my monsters stripped my blueberries bare last year ...I'm hopeful for about 6 berries this year unless they manage to get to the flowers in the meantime Sha x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sallyj Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 My girls don't eat Hebe shrubs. They have quite thick leaves and they come in a huge range of sizes and different coloured leaves. These Hebes are low maintenance as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenNutter Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Now you are on to my subject! I am a chicken keeper of 1 year, who is also a keen gardener with a tiny garden who wants the holy grail of free ranging chickens and a range of plants. I notice there is a locked thread about plants poisonous to chickens, maybe we should start one about chicken-proof plants? So far my chickens decimate anything tender and herbaceous - or so I thought until my Trollius (globeflower?) plant came through. When my late rabbit was alive it never stood a chance, but despite being a leafy herbaceous perennial with lovely yellow large buttercup-like flowers, the chickens never touch it! I am going to buy loads! I am also changing the garden to leathery leaved tropical and tough sliky desert leaved plants which they have the occasional go at when they are very bored, but soon give up. apart form that my new approach is arial gardening - never having been a fan of thirsty environmentally bedding plants and faffy hanging baskets, I have just bought three baskets, as the chickens can't reach them - success! gardening in the air! Shrubs and plants my chooks havent touched include Laurel, Box, Fatsia japonica, Ivy, Choysia, Fan palm, Banana, Winter flowering Jasmine, ferns, Lavender, Rosemary, climbing roses and a couple of others I will have to check the name of. Completely forget, most culinary herbs, hardy geraniums and hostas (particular passions of my chooks), catmint, any ornamental grasses, and Heuchara - won't stand a snowball's in hell chance. I still grow some of these and use Omlet fencing around some areas of the garden when they are out, but I find they have extendable giraffe necks when they spy a tasty plant so you have to have quite a buffer zone if you use fencing. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenNutter Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Oops, lots of typos in that, my fingers run away with me when I am enthusiastic! PM me if you want a translation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squawk Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Hi I posted something in similar in the gardening section a while back. I've found that evergreens and shrubs are the most resilient. Forget anything soft stemmed with pretty flowers! The following plants are all doing well in my garden (fingers crossed): Golden curls willow Heavenly bamboo (not a true bamboo as its related to berberis) Mexican Orange blossom Golden dogwood Spotted laurel Photinia Cotoneaster Grape vine Honeysuckle Buddleia Its definately worth paying a bit more for a larger plant as its much more liekly to survive. I've also found that sowing grass seed in the borders after I've planted the shrubs has helped too (grass seedlings need to be protected until they has grown and formed decent roots). Its digging in loose soil that causes the most damage and the grass prevents them from flinging soil everywhere! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutti Frutti Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Mine have trashed my lavender, rosemary and box hedging but ignore my cordyline, variegated euonymous, variegated laurel and rhododendrons Someone said their chooks ignore their hostas so I bought four... and the chickens ignored them for all of a day! So now the hostas are recovering behind the netting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mabelandflosmum Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Mine don't touch hostas but if I plant anything new I surround it with a circle of that green plastic edging strip you can buy in garden centres, it protects the roots from all that digging! I've also got some lovely hydrangeas which cover a lot of ground and look good all summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrin Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 Agree with a couple of suggestions above, mine have never touched the Choisya (mexican orange blossom). Th ey have eaten everything else Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chook n Boo Mum Posted May 13, 2010 Share Posted May 13, 2010 Mine haven't eaten anything in my front garden..............they are banned Nothing is sacred in the back garden though Sha x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
