Whats possible to do with this garden?
chrissteele1993
Posts: 5
What would be possible to acheive a nice feature to this garden. The animals that live in this back garden are 2 chickens (very destructive animals) 3 rabbits (also destructive) and two mid-sized dogs (very destructive too) the garden obviously gets a lot of animal fecal matter on it due to the animals which is cleaned on the regular but difficult to keep pristine every day of the week. There are stones and bark placed down in two seperate areas for if we have grass the rabbits eat it and bury tunnels so when you walk on it the ground collapses under your feet, the chickens and dogs dig the mud up. And the chickens are just fowl. My question is due to the circumstances (the destructive animals) what features can be put in place (e.g. lighting, raised flower beds, different loose grounds etc.) To make this garden a visual masterpeice?
P.s. wooden or plastic ornamentation is difficult to install due to the rabbits chewing the edges of, well everything.
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Last edited: 05 July 2017 18:59:59
Fruit trees, provided you could surround them with protection sturdy enough to stop the rabbits chewing off the bark. Raised beds would have to be fairly high to be inaccessible to the hens, which means they would be costly in building materials, and take a lot of filling. Thorny shrubs such as berberis might survive: getting on the wrong end of berberis thorns would soon teach the critters to treat it with respect. Do you have walls, trees or fences which would support climbers? Ivy is tough and needn't be gloomy, there are lots of lovely variegated types. I have bought ivy from a specialist nursery called Fibrex, have a look at their online catalogue, I found them an excellent firm to deal with. How about elder? Another toughie, once established, and IMHO a very under-rated plant. Grows fast, has edible flowers and fruits, and if you don't eat them, the pollinators and birds will be happy to do so. If all else fails, you could plant up some hanging baskets, but they are high-maintenance and the menagerie might not leave you enough time! Best of luck.
Thanks for the input. What about other features like flooring (slabs, gravel etc.) And lighting or moving sleepers?
First questions.
How much effort are you prepared to put into this project and how much money are you prepared to spend on it?
We used to have chicken, rabbits, cats, dogs, (now just 2 dogs) The chicken had a run, at night were housed in an old rabbit hutch, in the day when I was there, they were allowed to forrage, they werent particularly destructive. Hubby concreted the floor of their run, and put a grate drain at the bottom, I have a friend with chicken she just lays straw on the floor, they goes in the compost bin. The rabbits hutch and large run, also allowed out, while watched. They were at the bottom of the garden by the veg plot. If you want a garden for you as well as them, they will have to have some kind of enclosure, then you can have what you would like on the patio area, there are lists of rabbit proof plants. Lighting plants on walls, keep them out of the animals way. I used to have 3 dogs, I bought a dog loo in the end, found it was absolutely useless. Luckily, where we live now you can put in in household waste. At least you can compost the rest of the poo. Can we have some pics of the animals?
Lots of effort and when it comes to money i will slowly do the work as i go along (probably after i get paid every month)
I'll upload some pictures of the animals later on if you like
Yes, I like come on where are the animals!!
To prevent digging by pets you can lay chicken wire flat across the whole surface. Grass and plants will, in time grow through it until it is invisible. The animals will not be able to dig through.