jackian Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Having a small garden and a WIR my girls are let out most of the day in what is left of my back garden.I don't regret it for one minute . Before they arrived 2 months ago the ground was thick clay now I have lovely soil with their digging .They are better than any rotavator My question is ...What can I plant as shrubs that they won't eat. I know that they have not touched most herbs and they love rose leaves but the roses are still alive . I don't mind them raking up the ground but would like to look at something except bare ground . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindafw Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 prickly plants work http://www.dgsecurity.co.uk/spiked_plants/spiked_plants_domestic.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
counturchickens Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 My photinia (red Robin) is ok, and a mexican orange blossom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mulberry Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Our lot don't show much interest in shrubs or, generally, border plants with so far the exception of Begonias or Buzy Lizzies which are kept out of the way. Salad plants are another matter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Im sorry to say but mine did eat everything, even my Mahonia ( think thats how you spell it) They now have a hugh WIR and very rarely come out on to the grass, infact I can leave the door open whilst I top up the feeders and they dont bother to even try to escape now The best way is to use netting to protect anything you want to save. Good luck with the garden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pearls007 Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Mine won't eat nettles, bindweed and Japanese knotweed................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minnie&Moose Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Rosemary (providing it's too big to sit on ), choisya, lavender (again, once it's big enough not to be sat on), buddleia, cyanothus, flowering quince, dogwoods, smoke bush, oak-leaved hydrangea, honeysuckle, lavatera, philadelphus, sweet box, various spireas, various vibernums, and periwinkle (gets trampled but seems to survive though looks a bit bedraggled!) all survive our chickens. Fushias and violets sometimes get the flowerbuds nibbled but the plants do OK and we get some flowers. Low growing hebes don't get eaten in our garden but just don't look the same once a large cochin has settled down for a kip on them so I have some hazel cloches that I protect nerines, cat mint and hebes with - the plants grow through them, they do get a bit nibbled around the edges but it stops the chickens actually digging them up or squashing them. Also, various types of clematis seem to survive so I train them through the more boring bushes to cheer things up a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutti Frutti Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 I always thought shrubs were safe but my girls have chomped my clematis, photinia and lavatera (which have been mentioned above as safe ) and I've had to put them behind mesh. I think basically the only things that are safe are... out of reach so anything tall, large, mature or netted off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buvarka Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Mine don't touch the blackberry bush, not even the ripe berries, which is strange, seen their devotion to the blueberries... So you may try that. Choose the thorn-less variety, otherwise you might end up with bramble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Laurels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutti Frutti Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Laurels Big laurels yes, our girls loved scratching around under them in our old garden and couldn't reach the leaves so left them alone! But in our new garden, we planted two young (short) laurels... and our girls demolished one so we had to net the other off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackian Posted August 9, 2011 Author Share Posted August 9, 2011 Thank you for all your suggestions , I only have a small garden so it will have to be small shrubs. Rosemary is a good idea . My Bay they don't touch and lavender was mentioned.They sound good to me as they all have a purpose as well.I have my herb garden which is fenced off I might try and unfence a bit and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 My garden is small and my chickens FR all day every day. Despite this, to my surprise I've had a lot of success with hemerocalis day lillies and even regale lillies too. I put a narrow stake of some sort near the regale lillies so the chickens don't do that backward rake and hoof them up and that seems to do the trick. The hemerocalis I've done nothing with and they have given me some lovely flowers all summer. Michaelmas daisies have also been a great success. I know these are not shrubs but they will add some colour. The tall blue ones look great with my lavatera. Another type of shrub that is doing very well in my garden is Daphne. They come in various varieties that flower at different times of the year, some in the winter. They all have pretty flowers and a fantastic scent. These pre-dated my chickens in my garden and are supposed to be poisonous but my chickens have left them well alone and both they and my daphne shrubs thrive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Mine eat lavender! They have lovely breath! I only have flowers and leaves at the top of the plant! But I'm learning. Cotoneasters are OK. I have an ornamental flowering currant - yellow and nice perfume and so far that is safe. Hydrangeas, ceanothus, hebes, spirea, buddleia, deutzia, eleagnus, escallonia, euonymous (I'm going through a book to remind me what plants I still have in the garden!),forsythia, hypericum, kerria, jasmine, lilac, shrimp plant (leycesteria aka pheasant berry - they like berries so do the wild birds), osmanthus, paeonies, potentilla, roses,rhododendrons, weigela. You need to protect them if they are small as they will trample over the top of them. It seems I have quite a lot of plants still OK after looking at that list!!! But I still have huge gaps to fill. The most recently planted are - osmanthus, hydrangea, currant and the ceanothus. All taken well in spite of dust baths at the base of the plants. Oh and no to fuchsias! They'll strip the leaves in seconds!!! I'll have to take a piccy when I've weeded it and tidied up. They don't eat spurge either - botheration!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
