sim Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Our garden's disgusting. It always was pretty bad. The chooks have scratched up all the grass and kick the chippings over everywhere. They've destroyed every plant and all the veg in the veg plot (good jumpers!). Tomorrow we're looking at making look a bit nicer, somewhere we'll want to sit in summer. I know we're not going to have an RHS-style garden, but I want something thy doesn't look like a dystopian nightmare. Are there any tough plants we can get? We're not nuts about flowers, but are thinking more about shrubs. We like herbs. Our rosemary plant got killed. Is there a type of grass that will better withstand chook scratching? We're thinking of fencing off the lawn and only letting them on a few times a week. Will it help the grass recover, or pointless? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 What about fencing off an area for them and then regrowing your garden. Put Knowles Nets around the flower beds and let them onto the grass when it grows for very restricted times. I let mine on the flower beds in autumn when its all dying back. I net off an area of grass at a time to reseed it. The lawn grows back ok each spring but in their area I use Poultry pasture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueandwhite Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 I sectioned off a piece of grass with tree posts and that expandable trellis stuff over winter. Just let them in when I was there. I think (some!) my plants have survived because they were established pre-chooks. But I still have laurel, caster oil plant, buddleigh, rhodedendrun (don't know how to spell that), bamboo (in pots), pampas grass and lavender. My veg plot is separated by bamboo canes and bird netting. Whatever I tried before they got over, under or through. My grass is now also covered in bird netting held down with tent pegs so they can peck but can't scratch. I think trying to stay one step ahead is the key - and it is a REAL challenge! Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Restricting their access to the garden, and limiting the hours they are allowed into it, are the only ways to keep a garden and chickens. I don't think there is any grass, or any plant come to that, which will withstand lengthy chicken-exposure - they have things they prefer (usually juicy tender shoots or carefully-raised vegetables) but they'll eat less attractive stuff if it's on offer. Established shrubs should be ok - I have viburnum, cotoneaster, box, euonymous, hydrangea and so on without any problem, but they are big sturdy plants. The digging/scratching is the worst in my view, bulbs, seedling and small plants are just kicked out of the way. I would invest in some fencing/netting as described above, and keep them off the lawn in particular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eve Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 yes deafo only let them in your garden for a limited timeyou want any grass. my hubby keen to let them out in winter but not in summer as our boy plays outside alot and so much poo otherwise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heth1986 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 I have planted some bits and bobs in my chicken run to try and keep it looking pretty! Some that have survived (so far!) are... Rosemary Bay Tree Ferns Clematis Peony Roses Heathers Hops Lavendar Many others have been tried and failed, they just don't seem bothered about these lot and don't even seem to scratch around them. I had to cover them with chicken wire to begin with as everything young and sprouting is fair game to them but, like I say, so far so good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pearls007 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 The only things I can guarantee chicken proof are brambles and nettles. We let the chickens onto a bit of rough ground in the hope that they would clear it - but they ignored these! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hilda-and-evadne Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Our rosemary plant got killed. Yes, my hens will eat lavender and rosemary if they get at them. I am going to try dahlias - when next door had hens free-ranging all over their garden, the only plant that survived intact seems to be a dahlia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackian Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 I have bay , Lavander , Roses (rambling ones ) and clemitis...They don't touch them.I had a herb garden once surrounded by chiocken wire.It survived 3 months The rest have all gone ..which would I rather have chickens or flowers ...hhhhm no contest The flowers and new herb garden are in the front garden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sim Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 Thanks all! We've overseeded the lawn with tough grass so far. We're probably going to get shrubs in the beds and protect them as they get established. We're going to have herbs in pots. We need to properly fence off the veg plot. I really don't want to keep them 100% out of the garden, they love pottering about. I think we also need to put borders between the lawn and beds to stop that messy merging of the lawn into the beds. We'll also get a tray for them to bathe in, hopefully they'll prefer it to everything else...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayleybug Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 i think some people have used that grass protector stuff when relaying lawn (not sure what it's called but its designed for heavy use areas or for grass which gets parked on). think you can get it from homebase or theres some similar on ebay tho it isnt cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sim Posted March 12, 2012 Author Share Posted March 12, 2012 Our rosemary plant got killed. Yes, my hens will eat lavender and rosemary if they get at them. I am going to try dahlias - when next door had hens free-ranging all over their garden, the only plant that survived intact seems to be a dahlia. I failed to say the rosemary was on its last legs before we got the chooks! They probably finished it off! A lot of people are having luck with dahlias, we'll get some! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I'd recommend you go for a design that looks good on top and is bare below - kind of Japanese and really quite modern. In this way you can grow climbers (roses are good as are chaenomales and pirocantha) and most shrubs. You can then let the chickens strip the bases while you have leaves and flowers further up. While the plants are gathering a bit of hight just fence them off with some wire and a couple of support sticks which can easily be removed once they are out of chook reach. Those hazel wig wams can help hide things like fancy tall grasses till they get tough and bitter. To go with it all I'd highly recommend bamboo. Your chickens will strip the bases for you, so revealling the pretty gold or black stems which is a job non chicken keepers have to do by hand and is a grotty one. You can invest in just one big plant which should be put into the earth in a plastic pot with the base cut through in a few places. Then split that year after year to increase them if you want. You may find that you need to protect the roots in your chickens' favourite dust bath areas.This can be done with some large rocks which again looks rather Japanesey. Go for those with white stripes so the poop blends in. Then sit back and enjoy your garden livened up with your pretty chickens digging around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sim Posted March 12, 2012 Author Share Posted March 12, 2012 I'd recommend you go for a design that looks good on top and is bare below - kind of Japanese and really quite modern. In this way you can grow climbers (roses are good as are chaenomales and pirocantha) and most shrubs. You can then let the chickens strip the bases while you have leaves and flowers further up. While the plants are gathering a bit of hight just fence them off with some wire and a couple of support sticks which can easily be removed once they are out of chook reach. Those hazel wig wams can help hide things like fancy tall grasses till they get tough and bitter. To go with it all I'd highly recommend bamboo. Your chickens will strip the bases for you, so revealling the pretty gold or black stems which is a job non chicken keepers have to do by hand and is a grotty one. You can invest in just one big plant which should be put into the earth in a plastic pot with the base cut through in a few places. Then split that year after year to increase them if you want. You may find that you need to protect the roots in your chickens' favourite dust bath areas.This can be done with some large rocks which again looks rather Japanesey. Go for those with white stripes so the poop blends in. Then sit back and enjoy your garden livened up with your pretty chickens digging around We might try some of those once my other half's bank account's refilled... plants are surprisingly expensive when you need a lot! I like the idea of bamboo. And I did want some nice long grasses, but my partner wasn't so keen. The garden's looking tidier. We've got rosemary and mint in big pots, some little conifers, and heather. We've fenced the chooks into the barked area. They can still scrat around in the veg plot for now before we put the veg in! They do a nice job of turning over the soil. When we replant the veg, we'll move the fencing round. The only trouble is, my partner insists I can jump over it to feed/clean/tend to them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken shack Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 What about fencing off an area for them and then regrowing your garden. Put Knowles Nets around the flower beds and let them onto the grass when it grows for very restricted times. I let mine on the flower beds in autumn when its all dying back. I net off an area of grass at a time to reseed it. The lawn grows back ok each spring but in their area I use Poultry pasture Plum have you used this netting? I want to give my ducks a larger area to free range and the poultry netting from omlet and elsewhere is expensive. I could use fruit tree posts to hold it up if it is any good. My other option is to buy some weld mesh and make a more permanant area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bevmatt Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 The only things I can guarantee chicken proof are brambles and nettles. We let the chickens onto a bit of rough ground in the hope that they would clear it - but they ignored these! If you pull the nettles up - once they are dry after a day or two the hens will eat them - they are a great tonic for the brids and we now 'harvest' them for the birds - weeding suddenly does not seem a chore as I am harvesting instead! There was an article in Practical Poultry about this last year which gave me the idea... we pull them up and then hang them in the runs for the birds to peck at... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
