Landscaping for the Peas

Bird Zoo 45

In the Brooder
Feb 12, 2015
24
2
24
Hi everyone!
I have always loved the idea of planted aviaries for my birds, because i really think it gives them a better quality of life and i also think that it helps to improve their breeding habits ( But that is just a theory). I have found that very few plants can stand up to the beating that my peas give them. The peas always seem to eat them down to the ground they are worse than my sheep!
Anyway I have found that rose bushes hold up to the peas pretty good as long as the roses are mature when you introduce them to the aviary or in my case my yard as well because i have roaming peas too! The peas actually keep the rose bushes pruned up for me so the leaves do not start until the stem gets to right above pea height! That is why you want your roses to be taller when you put them in pea territory and when you prune them back late in the year keep in mind you cant prune them as traditional roses you have to prune them higher as "Pea roses". :)
I also am going to try to put pampas grass in for them, i ordered some from an online nursery and now i have to wait until they are large specimens to put them in the aviaries but i am excited! I also have started some grape vines on the wire on the outside of the aviary and am encouraging the vines to grow up the sides! I hope it works! Has anyone tried this? what was the outcome?

Also what do you think about bamboo in the aviaries? I am afraid the peas would eat all the new shoots?

I am also going to try to put landscape bark down for the substrate in the aviaries as this will give a natural forest look and give them something other than dust to play in. Has anyone tried that? I am going to get the larger particle stuff so that it does not cause sinus problems.

Has anyone tried any other plants? I am pretty good at growing things so i would love some more ideas. The more tropical plants i have i usually have on the outside of the aviaries so they dont get destroyed but i would love to be able to tie the inside landscaping with the outside if you know what i mean?

Any ideas are welcome! I would love to discuss this with you guys to come up with some other great ideas! :D
 
Hi! I can relate A TON to what you are saying! I have a planted peafowl aviary and I have tried many plants in the aviary and some have failed and some have thrived. My interest in peafowl and in plants kind of developed at the same time. I had been wanting peafowl and I heard about a bamboo garden that had peafowl. I visited them using the excuse that I was going for the plants, but I was most interested in seeing the peafowl. The owner of the bamboo garden helped me get my first pair of peafowl, and his beautiful garden also inspired me to create my own little paradise not only for me but for my peafowl. It is a nice escape especially when I am having a bad day.

I tried pamas grass before because I though since the grass is sharp on the edges the birds wouldn't destroy it. We had a huge pampas in our front yard of our old house and I thought once the bush was mature it would make a great nesting/hiding area for the peafowl. The peafowl trampled it, lay on it, and I watched them scratch at the leaves, not pecking, but actually scratching them all up! Needless to say they killed my pampas, but I figure different people's birds will react differently to plants. I know of a lady who grows bananas in her peachick pen and a guy who grew cannas in his peafowl pen and my birds would destroy such a soft tropical plant as bananas and cannas. I keep those tender plants on the outside of the pen, but if they are too close to the fence the birds can reach through and still peck at them.

I have really been wanting to try grape vines! I found a photo of someone's peafowl aviary that had a beautiful gourd vine growing all over the aviary fence. It looked so whimsical seeing all those gourds hanging from the fence and a proud peacock perched by it.

As for bamboo, I give it an A+ for peafowl aviaries. Just make sure you get clumping bamboo because the running kind can get out of control. I like to kick over some of my clumping bamboo's new shoots and I break open the shoot to feed the soft part to the peafowl. They eat it, but they aren't crazy about it. The bamboo shoots seem to be too tough for them to destroy. The clump you see in the photo below started out as just two or three wimpy yellowed bamboo stalks. They were maybe as thin as your pinky finger and maybe 5ft tall. Now they are growing out of the netting and they are very close in height to the surrounding pecan trees. Oh and the dead bamboo leaves provide the birds with something to scratch through to look for bugs. I love the color of dead bamboo leaves too. There is an oak tree overhanging my aviary so I get a lot of oak leaves in the pen as well, but sometimes I go out and rake up a bunch of leaves to put in the small attached pen I have because the peafowl really do love having leaves to scratch through. With the peachicks I raised last year I took them outside almost every day and I scratched through piles of leaves to find bugs for them and I would point at the bug and they would chase after it. When you watch a peahen with her peachicks that is exactly what she does for her babies, so substrate in the pen is great especially if you plan on having a peahen raise her chicks in the pen.




One of my other favorite plants is Fatsia Japonica. This plant has thick leaves, looks tropical, and it stays green all year round in many growing regions.


Here is a clump of varigated bamboo - I think it is called Bambusa multiplex. It is yellow with green stripes.


I also like bringing big logs into the peafowl pen. The peafowl love jumping on top of them and it looks very majestic.


The way I test new plants is I put them in the peafowl aviary while they are still in the pot. If the birds don't hurt the plant too much within a week, I will plant it. They always test peck at plants - even the good ones that survive get a few bite marks. Usually I always go by the rule that the tougher feeling the plant, the more likely the peafowl will not destroy it. So soft plants like bananas I usually avoid. There are exceptions though. I find that elephant ears do really well. My yearling peafowl who were moved into the big aviary this year decided they would misbehave and they started pecking at my elephant ears a lot. The elephant ears are so tough though they grow back quickly and now the young peas are losing interest.

Anyways, I have other plants I would recommend and I also talk more about the grass seed I like to sow in the aviary, but I have already written an article about that on my website here:
http://bamboopeacock.com/Landscaping Your Aviary.html

Here is a page with links to some things that inspire me when it comes to aviary design & planting:
http://bamboopeacock.com/Inspiration for an Aviary.html

Also here are some more photos and details about my setup:
http://bamboopeacock.com/Aviaries.html

What planting zone are you in? I am in zone 8 but I like to pretend that I am in zone 9 or above.
tongue.png
 
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Hi! I can relate A TON to what you are saying! I have a planted peafowl aviary and I have tried many plants in the aviary and some have failed and some have thrived. My interest in peafowl and in plants kind of developed at the same time. I had been wanting peafowl and I heard about a bamboo garden that had peafowl. I visited them using the excuse that I was going for the plants, but I was most interested in seeing the peafowl. The owner of the bamboo garden helped me get my first pair of peafowl, and his beautiful garden also inspired me to create my own little paradise not only for me but for my peafowl. It is a nice escape especially when I am having a bad day.

I tried pamas grass before because I though since the grass is sharp on the edges the birds wouldn't destroy it. We had a huge pampas in our front yard of our old house and I thought once the bush was mature it would make a great nesting/hiding area for the peafowl. The peafowl trampled it, lay on it, and I watched them scratch at the leaves, not pecking, but actually scratching them all up! Needless to say they killed my pampas, but I figure different people's birds will react differently to plants. I know of a lady who grows bananas in her peachick pen and a guy who grew cannas in his peafowl pen and my birds would destroy such a soft tropical plant as bananas and cannas. I keep those tender plants on the outside of the pen, but if they are too close to the fence the birds can reach through and still peck at them.

I have really been wanting to try grape vines! I found a photo of someone's peafowl aviary that had a beautiful gourd vine growing all over the aviary fence. It looked so whimsical seeing all those gourds hanging from the fence and a proud peacock perched by it.

As for bamboo, I give it an A+ for peafowl aviaries. Just make sure you get clumping bamboo because the running kind can get out of control. I like to kick over some of my clumping bamboo's new shoots and I break open the shoot to feed the soft part to the peafowl. They eat it, but they aren't crazy about it. The bamboo shoots seem to be too tough for them to destroy. The clump you see in the photo below started out as just two or three wimpy yellowed bamboo stalks. They were maybe as thin as your pinky finger and maybe 5ft tall. Now they are growing out of the netting and they are very close in height to the surrounding pecan trees. Oh and the dead bamboo leaves provide the birds with something to scratch through to look for bugs. I love the color of dead bamboo leaves too. There is an oak tree overhanging my aviary so I get a lot of oak leaves in the pen as well, but sometimes I go out and rake up a bunch of leaves to put in the small attached pen I have because the peafowl really do love having leaves to scratch through. With the peachicks I raised last year I took them outside almost every day and I scratched through piles of leaves to find bugs for them and I would point at the bug and they would chase after it. When you watch a peahen with her peachicks that is exactly what she does for her babies, so substrate in the pen is great especially if you plan on having a peahen raise her chicks in the pen.




One of my other favorite plants is Fatsia Japonica. This plant has thick leaves, looks tropical, and it stays green all year round in many growing regions.


Here is a clump of varigated bamboo - I think it is called Bambusa multiplex. It is yellow with green stripes.


I also like bringing big logs into the peafowl pen. The peafowl love jumping on top of them and it looks very majestic.


The way I test new plants is I put them in the peafowl aviary while they are still in the pot. If the birds don't hurt the plant too much within a week, I will plant it. They always test peck at plants - even the good ones that survive get a few bite marks. Usually I always go by the rule that the tougher feeling the plant, the more likely the peafowl will not destroy it. So soft plants like bananas I usually avoid. There are exceptions though. I find that elephant ears do really well. My yearling peafowl who were moved into the big aviary this year decided they would misbehave and they started pecking at my elephant ears a lot. The elephant ears are so tough though they grow back quickly and now the young peas are losing interest.

Anyways, I have other plants I would recommend and I also talk more about the grass seed I like to sow in the aviary, but I have already written an article about that on my website here:
http://bamboopeacock.com/Landscaping Your Aviary.html

Here is a page with links to some things that inspire me when it comes to aviary design & planting:
http://bamboopeacock.com/Inspiration for an Aviary.html

Also here are some more photos and details about my setup:
http://bamboopeacock.com/Aviaries.html

What planting zone are you in? I am in zone 8 but I like to pretend that I am in zone 9 or above.
tongue.png
That is amazing! I love all your plants and your peas are beautiful and extremely lucky! I also like to put logs in for my peas to sit on and they seem to love them! that is really interesting that the pampas grass wont stand up to them, I thought the same thing they are big and sharp and I was for sure they would not destroy them but, I guess I will plant the grass on the outside. yes my birds are the same way I have cannas on the outsides of the aviary and I guess I planted a couple bulbs too close cause the peas are working hard to get every bite they can. I love cannas but my peas do too. I have elephant ears too and I am so excited to have them I just got the bulbs this spring and they have started to come up so I am really happy I hope they do well, I would think that the peas would totally eat them to the ground? I might have to try one in one of the aviaries and see how it goes! I am in zone 8 as well! I am also trying great gunnera it looks amazing and I am so excited I hope to get mine to grow huge! Have you ever tried it? thank you for all the great info! I love it! I am hoping my grape vines do well but they are just getting established so it will be a while for them to grow up very far. I will look at your links they look like they are very fun and info filled!
 
I like cannas too even though I am horrible at growing them. I remember visiting someone's garden that was full of tall cannas all in bloom and there were butterflies everywhere. I can't get my cannas to spread much at all and mine don't seem to grow as fast as other cannas I see around town.

I did the same thing with my first elephant ears. I have had them for maybe three years now but the first year when I got the bulbs I planted some inside the pen and some outside just in case if the peafowl ate the ones in their pen there would be others outside that they couldn't reach. I planted one bulb at the edge of the peafowl's tin shelter so that when the rain drops off of the tin roof it will fall onto the elephant ears. The ones in that location grow really well. I visited Rocking B-A-B Ranch (a big peafowl breeder about an hour from me) and they have some type of HUGE elephant ears planted around the edges of their pens. It might be a Thailand giant strain but I can't be sure. I had my boyfriend take a photo of me under the plant for a size reference.


Since you said you are trying great gunnera, I am guessing you love big tropical or tropical looking plants. I do too so needless to say I found a baby one of this big elephant ear growing among the larger ones on the farm and I gently pulled it up and stuck it in my bag and when I got home I put it in a glass of water. After it grew pretty well in the water I potted it and finally last year I planted it in the peafowl aviary by their roost. I put it by their roost so that their poop would help feed the elephant ear because I want it to get as huge as the one in the photo. The Rocking B-A-B finds that this elephant ear spreads a lot and they are constantly tossing extra ones back behind the pens.

The peafowl will peck at the elephant ear leaves a little and if it is in a bad location they might trample it, but they don't really destroy it. I think it was a photograph of a green peacock standing in front of a large elephant ear in the Jungle World Exhibit at the Bronx Zoo that inspired me to try planting elephant ears in my aviary.

I have really been wanting to grow great gunnera! Where did you get yours at?
 
I like cannas too even though I am horrible at growing them. I remember visiting someone's garden that was full of tall cannas all in bloom and there were butterflies everywhere. I can't get my cannas to spread much at all and mine don't seem to grow as fast as other cannas I see around town.

I did the same thing with my first elephant ears. I have had them for maybe three years now but the first year when I got the bulbs I planted some inside the pen and some outside just in case if the peafowl ate the ones in their pen there would be others outside that they couldn't reach. I planted one bulb at the edge of the peafowl's tin shelter so that when the rain drops off of the tin roof it will fall onto the elephant ears. The ones in that location grow really well. I visited Rocking B-A-B Ranch (a big peafowl breeder about an hour from me) and they have some type of HUGE elephant ears planted around the edges of their pens. It might be a Thailand giant strain but I can't be sure. I had my boyfriend take a photo of me under the plant for a size reference.


Since you said you are trying great gunnera, I am guessing you love big tropical or tropical looking plants. I do too so needless to say I found a baby one of this big elephant ear growing among the larger ones on the farm and I gently pulled it up and stuck it in my bag and when I got home I put it in a glass of water. After it grew pretty well in the water I potted it and finally last year I planted it in the peafowl aviary by their roost. I put it by their roost so that their poop would help feed the elephant ear because I want it to get as huge as the one in the photo. The Rocking B-A-B finds that this elephant ear spreads a lot and they are constantly tossing extra ones back behind the pens.

The peafowl will peck at the elephant ear leaves a little and if it is in a bad location they might trample it, but they don't really destroy it. I think it was a photograph of a green peacock standing in front of a large elephant ear in the Jungle World Exhibit at the Bronx Zoo that inspired me to try planting elephant ears in my aviary.

I have really been wanting to grow great gunnera! Where did you get yours at?
ok, I really really want some of those elephant ears!!
droolin.gif
I hope mine get that big!
fl.gif
. Yes how did you guess? I love tropical plants...well I like all the different plants but the tropical ones are the best the bigger the better! I planted my cannas in planters the first two seasons, then I just this spring put them on the outside of the aviaries. I have found that they do like good soil and like a good amount of water. I also like to put a little fertilizer on them to give them a good boost. I ordered my great gunnera from an online nursery. I think it was four seasons nursery. Ya it was here is the link where you can get it from Great Gunnera I ordered just one with a few other things and it took forever to come so I called them and they said it would be there in the next couple days, then a couple days whent by and two of the same exact order came and they said just to keep the second one free for the hassle! So now I have 2! They are small and just starting to come up ( just like my elephant ears).

Do you think you could figure out what variety that elephant ear is? and where I could get some? that is amazing!
 
I figured anyone wanting to grow great gunnera must have a love for big plants.
tongue.png
Thank you for the nursery link! I will have to try that out! Right now I have a plant that has leaves somewhat like a gunnera. It is called a Rice Paper Plant (tetrapanax papyrifer). I love it because it gets big and I hardly do anything to it. It produces a lot of babies and they can pop up a good distance from the original plant, but luckily they are very easy to pull up and once you pull them up they don't come back in that spot. I like how they spread because I needed something to fill in my garden and make it look more lush. I have noticed a few small ones pop up in the peafowl pen, but I think the birds eat or trample them down so that they don't get big. Perhaps if I planted a large one in the aviary it wouldn't get destroyed by the birds. I have been wanting to clip a leaf off of it and make a concrete leaf casting of the leaf and then maybe use the casting as a neat food dish for the peafowl or just a random decoration in their aviary.

I will see if I can figure out what variety that elephant ear is. When looking at photos of Thailand Giant elephant ears, I noticed that they are a light green color, they look wrinkly, and they are very rounded. This elephant ear on the other hand is very pointed and it is a nice darker green color. Also the leaves don't look wrinkled. Jack's Giant Elephant ears look a bit more similar, but I still feel like it is some other variety. It could even be giant taro (Alocasia macrorrhiza).
 
I didn't read through all the other comments so sorry if I'm repeating something but if you do mulch the aviaries use pine nuggets. Cedar mulch is very poisonous to birds and should not be used. Hardy conifers can be good choices to give the birds somewhere to hide or perch on and trumpet vine can be a good vine to climb the fence and provide some shade. Research any plant that you'd like to put in with them to make sure it's not poisonous and stay away from water features. They might look nice initially but they get really gross really fast and it's not good for the peas. Chicks can also drown in them. Hope this helps.
 
I didn't read through all the other comments so sorry if I'm repeating something but if you do mulch the aviaries use pine nuggets. Cedar mulch is very poisonous to birds and should not be used. Hardy conifers can be good choices to give the birds somewhere to hide or perch on and trumpet vine can be a good vine to climb the fence and provide some shade. Research any plant that you'd like to put in with them to make sure it's not poisonous and stay away from water features. They might look nice initially but they get really gross really fast and it's not good for the peas. Chicks can also drown in them. Hope this helps.
Thanks so much for the advise! I really appreciate it, yes I did know not to use cedar, I only use pine or something like that for bedding for all my animals. I think I will try some hardy confers I bet those would hold up nicely! And trumpet vine is a great idea! I do love water features but, I don't think I am going to do one in the peafowl aviary anyway because I am already working on a waterfowl aviary as well, and water features are quite a pain, they have to be made to make cleaning easy because you are right they get gross fast and you have to clean them quite often. Also the chick drowning is also a good point I would have to not have any hens set in there if their was a water feature and I want to keep my options open so the water feature is out. I do have a question though, I am wanting to make auto waters so I don't have to drag the hose all around every day, I was thinking about putting dishes in there so the water just drips in to each dish but do you think the babies would get in it and drown? I want it big and heavy enough so the adult peas cant kick it over, do you have any suggestions? or experience with a water system? I am looking for any ideas, I would really like it to look good as well cause I like looking at the aviaries from the house. Any tips would be great I am always open to new ideas!
 
I figured anyone wanting to grow great gunnera must have a love for big plants.
tongue.png
Thank you for the nursery link! I will have to try that out! Right now I have a plant that has leaves somewhat like a gunnera. It is called a Rice Paper Plant (tetrapanax papyrifer). I love it because it gets big and I hardly do anything to it. It produces a lot of babies and they can pop up a good distance from the original plant, but luckily they are very easy to pull up and once you pull them up they don't come back in that spot. I like how they spread because I needed something to fill in my garden and make it look more lush. I have noticed a few small ones pop up in the peafowl pen, but I think the birds eat or trample them down so that they don't get big. Perhaps if I planted a large one in the aviary it wouldn't get destroyed by the birds. I have been wanting to clip a leaf off of it and make a concrete leaf casting of the leaf and then maybe use the casting as a neat food dish for the peafowl or just a random decoration in their aviary.

I will see if I can figure out what variety that elephant ear is. When looking at photos of Thailand Giant elephant ears, I noticed that they are a light green color, they look wrinkly, and they are very rounded. This elephant ear on the other hand is very pointed and it is a nice darker green color. Also the leaves don't look wrinkled. Jack's Giant Elephant ears look a bit more similar, but I still feel like it is some other variety. It could even be giant taro (Alocasia macrorrhiza).

sorry for the late response I have been really busy lately. Rice paper plant that sounds interesting! where did you get it at? and that would be great if you could find out what kind of elephant ear that is!.... I just found something at a local hardware store called split leaf philodendron, it looks like it could be a great addition to the landscape although it is still small yet, but it gets big and tropical looking so I am excited!
 

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