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[Cranfield Kate]

hello all. I have started to revamp my garden after fiddling about with it for years. the problem is, I know what veg and fruit i want but plants and flowers are a bit of a mystery. I have chickens (of course) so i have thw added pain of not being able to plant anything delicate or low to the ground as experience has taught that they will get dug up/stamped on/chewed/thrown onto the path in disgust.

 

does anyone have any recommendations for what i could plant in a flower bed that is chicken-hardy, pretty, smells nice and is low maintenance??? (not that i want to the earth or anything!)

 

and not herbs like rosemary and thyme - i don't want the garden smelling like a roast dinner.

 

thanks so much for any help!

[chickencam]

Standard roses, they are pretty, above chicken height and they smell nice. They will eat the buds on normal height roses.

 

Big shrubs like Lavatera are fairly chicken proof, as are some evergreens like Euonemous (sp) although i know ANH's chickens ate hers after a couple of years. I have loads of sunflowers in my garden at the moment, again once they have established they are strong and above chicken height. i also have some tough onrnamanetal tall grasses that if protected as they start to grow tend to be largely left alone and some clump forming perenials are ok if protected early in the year.

 

I use upturned wire hanging baskets to protect my plants in the spring, or as they are getting established. i also balance the freedom of my girls against my garden, so they are only let out for an hour or so at a time, after which they start looking for trouble.

[Perfectspace]

Some examples of hardy (tough for chickens to ruin!), colourful, low maintenance, yet easy to obtain Shrubs might include:

 

Choisya ternata 'Sundance'

Photinia x fraseri 'Red Robin'

Christmas Box (Sarcoccoca humilis) - very fragrant in late Winter!

Lonicera nitida 'Baggesen's Gold'

Phormiums - various

Bamboos - Phyllostachys aurea or Phyllostachys nigra

 

Some Euonymous would be ok, but be careful with Euonymous elata ('Winged Spindle') as the seeds are very poisonous for humans, and might assume the same for chickens!

 

Perennials are a little harder to choose - most can be pecked at as they shoot and flower. But tbh my Light Sussex Bantams pay little interest in most of mine.... In fact I've been pleasantly surprised at how little interest they take in my beds - I'm a qualified Garden Designer (although not practicing at the moment). They just love pecking at the lawn / grass.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

These aren't that pretty or fragrant but they are chicken-proof . They are from l-r: Ilex Aquilfolium Varegatum and Berberis Apricot Queen and some kind of holly thing the label's disappeared from .

 

 

Sadly, the same can't be said for my poor rhododendron which I only put in a couple of months ago. They've eaten all the new shoots so I'm going to move it into the new front garden and hope it recovers .

 

[Perfectspace]

and some kind of holly thing the label's disappeared from .

 

Looks like Mahonia japonica 'Charity'...? Great for a shady spot.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Thanks for that .

[Happy chickens!]

Leycesteria is a another good one (not a disease I promise!), it can grow quite big and survive even my garden excavating girls - just google for some pics, it has a bamboo type structure and attractive reddish flowers which remind me of the 'shrimp' houseplant of the 70s. It doesn't smell though.It readily self seeds, so if you pm me your address can probably find one to send you!

 

Climbers can work if you can just protect them to begin with - I've got a thornless blackberry growing up the wir, it is bare lower down, but has cropped higher up. I tend to plant anything in the chicken's area with a few bricks around the base to protect the roots from all the scratching and that seems to work quite well.

 

Good luck!

[Cranfield Kate]

oh this is fantastic - thank you omleteers!

 

and yes, that spiky thing is a mahonia - you'll get gorgeous and very fragrant yellow flowers on that in early spring.

 

thanks everyone! x

[Valkyrie]

Don't forget that bushes mean nothing to big fat chickens such as orpies - they plough straight through the middle - established or not! Roses seem to be spared for obvious reasons!

[stoice]

You'd probably have to protect the early shoots in spring but the larger varieties of sedum seem relatively chicken safe and the bees and butterflies love them. The smaller stonecrop type sedums don't stand a chance against the scratch-scratch, step-step dance though!

[bluekarin]

I have a Sharon Rose which my three (chickens that is, not the kids ) have left alone. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hypericum_calycinum_Tasmania.jpg It's been in a few years now and is about 3 ft tall. Bees seem to like it too. I also have (sorry!) sage, lavender and rosemary. I have lots of Crocosmia Lucifer http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/238.shtml which they do have a little go at, but more for scrabbling around the roots and hiding in the undergrowth (I have been know to find at odd egg laid in it )and they do like to have a nibble at the seed heads which doesn't bother me. When I first got the chickens they completely ate a fuchsia plant but I have a few in a pot which they have left alone Might have something to do with the child's hoop I have leant up against the pot - for some reason they don't like it. I also have a hydrangea and a verbena which they don't touch either. Hope that's given you a little inspiration