Poorly chicken

[nannyhenny]

Thought I'd share a solution to the 'hens have destroyed my garden' problem! Try buying some 5 cm semi-rigid plastic netting in either green or brown - the sort they sell for supporting honeysuckle etc against a fence with - and pegging it flat onto your flower beds. You can then plant shrubs, herbs etc through the mesh, cutting it round them if they are too big to feed through, and the chicks can't scrat them up, although they can still peck for insects etc through it. If you choose plants that hens don't eat (there are lots - especially herbs and shrubs like hebe, lilac, cotoneaster, berberis etc, etc) they won't eat the tops and the plants will soon grow over and hide the mesh, which isn't very obtrusive anyway. You can do this on lawn edges, too, using smaller mesh if you like as the grass will easily grow through.

This has saved my garden, anyway!

[mollyripkim]

We redid our entire lawn like this last year and had beautiful green grass, it looks a bit messy now but have just reseeded and sectioned the girls off to give it a chance to grow again. It was great as it stopped them and the dachshund from digging lots of holes! I also have cistus, magnolia, prunus and forsythia which the girls have left alone.

[Plum]

What a good idea, thanks

[Sammiboo]

im having garden thoughts too at the moment. I think we need to section some of it off to re-introduce grass

[The Dogmother]

My borders are fenced off with rabbit netting - stops them mullering the plants. I have just meshed the lawn, like Omletina did,so that the grass can grow through and it will be more durable through the winter.